The Ugly Duckling
by Countess Angel
Summary: Mia was never the most popular or prettiest girl in school. Nor did she care. After coming home from a trip to France, Sai is amazed at the transformation.
1. Prologue

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Prologue

By ~*Angel*~

Heyas all! I decided to start up a Ronin Warriors fanfic...^_^ Oh yes...if you are reading this, then you must also know that I have decided to finish off Going Co-Ed first since it has almost one hundred reviews so after that, I'll simply go to work on the next story that has the highest number of reviews...Back to RW, this inspiration came to me while I was at the Valentine's Day dance at my school...^_^ I was real proud that I did my hair myself but some other girl came in with her hair in the same style and with roses and baby breath entwined in her curls...so, that sort of ruined my spotlight...~_~ 

Oh dear...I keep on getting off subject! Anyways, as I was saying, this inspiration came to me when I was bored out of my mind at the dance...^_^ Hopefully, you guys like it...

Prologue

A mousy haired girl with glasses falling down her nose rain through the hallways. Her morning had started out awful. First, she was up late so she had to hurry and catch the city bus. While waiting, some kids from her school had started chucking snowballs at her which left a big red welt everywhere on her body. Then she couldn't find her change to get on the bus so she had to search through every bag and that took ten minutes. After she was done, the people on the bus gave her a dirty look. She had also learned that her mom and dad were going off to Paris for a long time...two years to be exact. She didn't know what they did, just that they worked for a company that made them travel a lot. Usually, it'd be a week or two and a month at the most, yet this time, it was going to be two years and this time, she was going with them. _This is your last day here...be strong._ They were leaving tonight too. Forgetting about home troubles, she worried about the ones that were about to come her way now. She had to get to class before the students in there closed it on her. They found it funny to tease her just because she didn't care to look like them. The door closed before she got there. "C-c-could s-s-someone p-p-please open up the door?" The guys, especially, started making faces into the window of the door at her. She felt the tears burning in her eyes. "I'm j-j-just asking you to please open up the door for me..." She meekly murmured.

"WHAT WAS THAT????" A guys voice clearly rang out.

The guys behind him started laughing but she didn't think it was all that funny. "Could you open the door?" She said a bit louder.

"SURE!" He grinned. He opened the door an inch and she started to step in but he shut it on her again. The door hit her toe pretty badly.

"Ow!" She yelped as she held up her foot. The tears were threatening to run down her face now.

"Awwww...did we hurt little Miss Mia????" A girl mocked. Her name was Lindsey. One of the most popular freshmen in school and she knew it. She was Mia's tormenter. She was beautiful and graceful but downright despicable. She had opened the door up.

Mia dared not to let the tears run down. She could control them. She had done this many times already. "No. I just stubbed my toe."

Lindsey smirked. "I'm glad to hear that." She cleared the way to let Mia in. 

Just as Mia was walking in, Lindsey snapped out her foot in front of Mia making Mia sprawl several feet in front of herself, throwing her paper and books everywhere.

"Ow! You almost broke my toe you slut!" Lindsey said loudly.

Mia tried to gather her books and paper off the floor quickly before Lindsey through a book at her.

"You bitch! I said you almost broke my toe!" Lindsey growled.

_Ow... _Mia blocked the book from hitting her head. "It's impossible to have broken your-,"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Ow...can someone take me to the nurse? My toe is killing me..." Lindsey cried fanning herself. 

"I'll go with you Linds..." Her boyfriend Jim offered. He passed the desk where Mia had put her books up and knocked them down. Mia grimaced and went to pick them up again.

Three-fourths of the class giggled and the other fourth looked away. They didn't like the way Lindsey was acting but they couldn't say anything. She and her friends owned this school.

Mia finally sat down in her seat. The bell rang and the teacher arrived. 

"Good morning class. Uh...where's Miss Lindsey?" She quickly questioned. The girl was a total ditz in her opinion. 

"Miss Dorrington, she had to go to the nurse because Mia almost broke her toe," A kid answered.

"Oh that's nonsense! Unless Mia took a wrench and forced it to break or Miss Lindsey snapped it against something, then it'd break." Miss Dorrington answered.

Another kid spoke up. "She purposely tripped over her foot."

"Now Matthew, who obviously would be stupid enough to?" She questioned narrowing her eyes at him.

"Obviously Mia," John murmured. The people around him who heard started snickering.

"One week of lunch and after school detention." Miss D said in a no-nonsense voice.

"WHAT??? I didn't do nothing!" John argued.

"Two weeks." She stated monotone.

"But-," John started.

"Would you like to go for three weeks?" Miss Dorrington was one of the most favored teacher at school yet one of the most hated. 

John clamped his mouth and pointedly stared at Mia. 

Mia turned around and snapped right back after seeing his red face.

"This is your own fault. Remember that." Miss Dorrington said after seeing the exchanged looks.

John looked out the window.

"Okay...open your books to pages one-oh-eight. This unit, we're going to study and read where fairy tales originated from, as you can see..." Miss Dorrington kept on explaining.

Mia had tuned her out. She would probably get attacked with snowballs or something even worse after school...and this was her last period.

~*~*~*~

Mia noticed John hanging out at the doorway with a bunch of kids. She also noticed a flash of white in their gloves. _Better if I get this over with. _She opened the door and was immediately bombarded with snow. The guys kept on picking up snow and chucking it at her.

"THIS IS FOR TWO DAMN WEEKS OF DETENTION YOU GAVE ME!" John yelled as he kept on bombarding her with them.

The tears started flowing down her face. She wimpered when she was pelted with them each time. She hated this school. She hated it so much. She quickly ran up into her bus and sat down. The guys kept on throwing snowballs at the window. She flinched. They stopped when they saw a bus monitor coming up by the sidewalk and quickly ran away. _Probably called by the bus driver... _Mia took off her glasses and wiped the snow off of them. She wiped the snow off her body and her tangled hair. She couldn't wait to get home. She'd meet him there and explain why she couldn't wait for him. 

~*~*~*~

Finally at home, Mia had donned her school equipment and set the tub up for a bubble bath. She couldn't believe how good it felt. She closed her eyes. "Why Mia? Why do you let yourself be walked all over by them? Why?" She groaned as she felt a bump the size of a golf ball in the back of her head. She didn't have any real friends or any friends except for Cye but he was her cousin. Her sweet and popular cousin. He was in the same grade but obviously not in the same classes as she was in. She'd usually get a ride from him. He'd drop her off and then drive off to his own home. "Dammit!" Mia hit the water and quickly clasped her mouth. She never swore. The tears started falling down her face again. She was exhausted emotionally and physically. At least one thing good was happening...she had was going to Paris for two years with her parents. Arrangements had been made with her school teachers already. She'd miss Cye though. The phone by her suddenly rang. "Hello?"

"Mia, I'm calling from my car, is there any reason why you didn't wait for me?" A familiar voice came from the other line.

Mia winced. "Sorry Cye, I sort of remembered I had to catch someone on the bus and they wouldn't let me off after I had gotten on,"

"Oh, okay! Then it's alright with me...um, you sound like you've been crying...is it just the connection or is there something wrong?" Cye asked.

Mia winced inwardly. "It's probably just the connection! Um...hey, I've got to go, I'll see you later 'kay?"

"Of course! I have to see off my favorite cousin don't I?" Cye said.

Mia chuckled. "Cye, you are too good to me,"

"I'm suppose to be! Anyways...I have to enter the tunnel soon, I'll see ya! Ja!" The connection went dead just as Mia uttered her 'good-bye'.

Mia put the phone on the hook. She was happy. She was glad when she was going to a country where she could speak the language fluently, then there was the fact her parents signed her up for a special all-girls boarding school. She didn't know what the name was but her parents replied that it was very well-known for it's programs. The no-boys part wouldn't be so bad. After all the years of being in the same school district, she had lost all respect for guys except Cye. She admired him. He was strong and he would've fought back against those guys. His family was also great in wealth but he didn't let that go to his head. So why couldn't she? "Maybe it's because I'm weak." She sighed as she laid down. This bubble bath felt completely great now.

~*~*~*~

Her belongings had been packed one week in advance and someone had come to pick them up for her. She was surprised. She figured her and her parents would carry their bags in their car. They weren't taking their car either. The company had sent a limo down. She never expected this. "Where do you guys work?" She asked her parents.

Mr. Koji's phone rang. He picked it up. "Before you say anything, thank you Mr. Yamaguchi for this wonderful ride. It wasn't necessary,"

_They haven't asked my question yet. _Mia looked at her mom. She was obviously occupied with a call of her own. A light bulb had gone off in Mia's head when her dad mentioned the name. She had heard it somewhere but she couldn't remember...oh where had she heard it?

~*~*~*~

"MIA!" A familiar accented voice called. 

She barely heard it but she recognized it well. "CYE???" She smiled for the first time in the day and quickly looked around for him. She finally spotted him. He had hurried up to her and gave her a bear hug. "I'm going to miss you so much," She grinned as she ruffled his hair.

"I'm going to miss you too! Now," He handed her two bags. One was a black messenger type bag and the other was a small one with decorations all over it. "We can stay in contact through these,"

"What are they?" Mia asked him as she looked at them. 

"The one in the small bag is a blue Nokia cell phone and the one in the large bag is your very own, and one of the most modern laptop I could find. I figured you need a good one since you love computers so much," Cye said grinning. "So...do ya' like?"

Mia squealed as she hugged him. "Oh my goodness! Thank you!"

"And don't worry about paying for the phone bill," Cye said.

"No Cye! I simply cannot have you pay for it!" Mia frowned.

"I was going to do that but your parents offered to," Cye smiled mischievously.

"My parents?" Mia arched her eyebrow at him. "These are the same parents we're talking about right?"

"Yup!" Cye nodded.

Mia was puzzled. First of all, her parents had always taught her saving up money was good. It taught her responsibility and it would also teach her to become a conservative person. Now they were paying for her cell phone bills?!

"Anyways..." Cye notioned at her parents with his head. "They're waiting,"

Mia felt tears coming to her eyes. She hugged Cye again. "Thanks,"

Cye patted her head. "See ya cous,"

"Bye!" Mia called over her shoulder before disappearing in the walkway.

Cye looked through the window. The plane took at most 15 minutes to lift off. He waved bye to it. He respected Mia. She had always been the sister he never had and they were the best of friends. "See ya in two years cous," He said to himself as he watched the plane disappear in the sky.

~*~*~*~

"Mom...Dad...is there something you want to tell me?" Mia asked. She held up the blue cell phone. "Like, why are you paying for the phone bills on this?"

Mrs. Koji looked at Mr. Koji. "Should we tell her?"

"We did promise to on this trip," Mr. Koji answered.

"Tell me what?" Mia asked.

"Mia, have we ever told you where we worked?" Mr. Koji asked.

Mia shook her head. "No...I mean, you'd figure I'd ask but it never came up until that limo showed up...where do you guys work?"

"You know Mr. Yamaguchi?" Her mom asked.

"I remember his name from somewhere but I can't remember where..." Mia answered.

"He's the owner of Yamaguchi Enterprises and we're the CEOs of his company," Her dad answered in one short sentence. "That's why we have to go to France for two years. It's a job transfer,"

Mia racked her brain. Something snapped inside of her head and her eyes turned as wide as saucers. "Wow! Mom! Dad! That's so awesome! Now I understand why you guys always had to travel! That's so sugoi!" She remembered reading a paper about Y.E. The stock market had run off the grid when the interest levels were lowered. Yamaguchi Enterprises had gone to well over one thousand dollars a stock. The company was a multi-billion business in Japan and it was expanding all over the world.

"Wow, I wasn't sure how you'd react to this," Mr. Koji commented.

"Well...I don't have a reason to be mad or anything," Mia said.

Mrs. Koji gave Mia a kiss on the head. "That's good honey,"

Mia grinned. Two years in France. This was going to be wonderful. _Absolutely wonderful._

First of all, this is set in Japan. She's going to France but I'm not going to explain the whole two years. Mia's character was changed a bit because I just couldn't figure out what she would say. Yes her parents are dead in the original story but they aren't in this. Second, I'm sorry if this chapter was rushed. It's because I sort of had gotten tired of typing so much and I was getting somewhat impatient with ending it. ^^;; I'm not going to beta-read this because I simply do not have the energy to. I was sick with a fever of 105 a few days ago and I'm simply feeling the after effects of them...Um...I know this sucked but that's because I was in a hurry to explain a lot of things and with people asking for more stories, I had to put this one out. If you all would like, I can make a GW version of this story though things are going to have to be changed. I'm so very sorry this stunk. I can feel the stench. _ Well...hopefully it isn't as bad as I say it is...^_^;; I'm very hard on myself...thanks minna! Ja!

~*Angel*~


	2. Chapter 1: The Return

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 1: The Return

By ~*Angel*~

Oh my goodness, it's been so long! ^_^ I realized that all my fans have depleted and ran away due to the lack of updates…however, I shall not neglect my fanfics no more! Now if I can get working on the other fanfics…that'd be great. It'd be the first time I'd ever finished anything…Yes, this isn't such a great fanfic…but out of all of them, it's the only one I really have any heart to do. ^_^ Enjoy…

Disclaimer: Sue me please. You can have my brother…No no! It's no trouble! I REQUEST you take him. In fact, I'll PAY you to take him. 

            "1 year and a half…has it really been that long?" The tall curvaceous woman murmured against the window glass. Stepping back from the window, she glanced down at her hand, which held a heart shaped locket with emerald and diamond studs. She had opened this locket so many times that she was surprised that it wasn't worn down the least bit. Opening it again, she glanced at the picture contained in it. A beautiful brown haired woman with vibrant blue eyes and glossy long hair smiled back at her. Next to her was a handsome man that had bright red hair with the most outstanding blue eyes. "Mother…Father…" She whispered choking on her tears. They were now deceased. Killed in a senseless car crash because some drunken teenager was in a car. In France, they allowed 16 year olds to have beer…heck, you could go in and have alcohol, they wouldn't ask you for an identification. The worst thing was that the teenage boy driving in the car had barely gotten a scratch whilst her parents…"_Oh god…_" She cursed in vain as the tears started falling down her face more freely. Glancing at the large room, she took in all the wonderful things she was given as her inheritance. Her parents were _rich._ Richer then she had ever known…they had never told her because it didn't seem easy to raise a good sensible kid when the kid would obviously know that she could have whatever she wanted. So Rachel Koji and Daniel Koji raised their child in a more modern-like household situation. Mia had grown up sensible, sweet…the pride of her parents. _Yeah right…me? I've always been a failure…I always will be._ Mia quickly fell on her silk sheet bed made of feathers, tears cursing like waterfall down her face. She didn't care if she wrinkled her silk black suit. One hour ago, it was declared that her parents were really dead. They weren't coming back…never. Covering her mouth to stifle the whimper, Mia tried to compose herself. She had one more family member…blood related at least, left. Her grandfather…and he lived in Japan. She would have to go to Japan and back into the hellhole they called Hana High. _Hana High…despicable place. _She thought with a smirk on her face. Walking over to her well-stocked bureau, she glanced at her face in the mirror. She never cared to wear makeup…everyone said she didn't really need it. However, her eyes were starting to get red and puffy. 

            "_Mademoiselle_ Koji?" A knock sounded at the door.

            Clearing her dry throat and wiping the tears off her face, she called, "Come in."

            A face poked through the double doors. "The guests are asking for you…Shall I tell them you would like to be by yourself?"

            Mia turned back to her reflection in the mirror. Sighing, she shook her head. "No Marie…as hostess, I shall act like a hostess…I will be down in a few seconds…"

            "_Oui…mademoiselle…_" The maid said as she closed the door.

            Quickly wiping her face again and licking her salty lips, she walked toward the doors. _I'm leaving France…wonderful France. I guess I had to leave sooner or later, right? At least…I have Cye._

~*~*~

            "Arigato," Cye said as the girl gave him a box of chocolates. It was Valentine's Day and in Japan…girls would give the guys boxes of chocolates. The better the chocolate, the more the girl liked the guy. Flashing him a full row of shiny white teeth, she giggled, winked, and shashayed away. Sighing, he threw the box of chocolates in his bag along with the other boxes of chocolates. Looking over into the crowd, he spotted Sage Date. One of his best friends…and always followed by at least a few girls. Of course…Sage never accepted any dates so it was rumored he might be gay with Rowan. Rowan Hashiba…another one of his friends and the most smartest kid in the school. He too had many date offerings but told others that he wanted to find a mature woman so he was labeled gay also. "Hey Sage!" He called out running toward the blond haired with cornflower colored eyes, guy. 

            "Cye!" Sage called grinning, relieved to have an excuse to escape his…_fans._

            After walking a while, they started talking.

            "So, how many boxes did you get?"

            "Do you really have to ask that?" Sage questioned as he sat down on a bench putting down his leather briefcase-like bag. "You first."

            Cye blushed as he reached for his bag and dumped out all the little square boxes. "Er…" Counting them quickly. "I guess around 13 to 15 boxes…Now it's your turn."

            Sage blushed as he grabbed his bag and dumped out the contents. A mountain of candy soon followed. 

            "Wow Sage…I didn't know we had that many girls that liked you…" Cye said grinning as he exaggerated what the number of candy really was.

            Sage's face turned BEAT red. "They…er…aren't…"

            Cye raised an eyebrow. "Well spit it out boy!"

            "They aren't just from girls."

            Cye's eyes contradicted to dots. "_Oro…_Wow…We really have to get you a girlfriend."

            A large sweat drop rolled down Sage's face. "You're telling me…"

            Coughing, Cye decided to change the subject. "Kento's going to have fun chomping down on these,"

            Sage laughed. "I doubt this would be even close to enough to the amount of food Kento consumes,"

            Both of them erupted into laughter at the thought of their friend.

            After a few moments, Cye took a box from the pile. "You think Meiala would like these?"

            "Who's Meiala?"

            "Oh didn't I tell you? She's coming back from France!" Cye grinned as the thought illuminated his face.

            Sage was piqued. Cye had a girl he was actually interested in. "So…tell me about her,"

            Cye shrugged. "Not much to tell really…She's sort of on the shy side and I haven't seen her for two years, we've been in contact through e-mail but her parents just died…" Letting the sentence die away, Cye rubbed his temples. "She must be feeling awful…This reminds me, I can't get together with you guys this weekend,"

            "I understand," Sage said.

            Cye grinned. "Thanks man,"

            "No prob," Sage grinned back.

~*~*~

            "Flight 197 now boarding, flight 285 now landing." The announcement echoed through the airport.

            Mia looked down at her watch as she scoured the crowd for a man with resemblance to the picture she held in her hand. In her other hand, she held a black messenger bag and in her Chanel suit pocket was a Nokia phone.

            "Mia?" A soft deep tenor voice called from the crowd.

            Glancing towards the direction of where the voice came from, she saw him. A tall well-built man with long grey hair, wrinkles and a mustache on his face; she smiled for the first time in three days. "Grandpa?"

            He smiled, laugh lines showing at the corner of his eyes.  "Welcome home dear Meiala Koji."

            _Meiala…No one has called me that for years…Except for Cye. _Mia thought as she looked at her grandfather.

            Clearing his throat, he offered to take her bags. 

            She gave him her black messenger bag. "Thanks grandpa,"

            "You're welcome, so when are your other bags arriving?" He asked as they walked to the doorway toward a red jeep. 

            "They should be arriving in a few days…along with everything else. The money has already been transferred," Mia answered as she got into the passenger side and her grandfather got into the driver's side. It was the opposite of how they drove in France. 

            "That's good…Mia, I have a question,"

            "Shoot,"

            "Now I know your parents said that they would like me to take care of the money that they had given to you…"

            "That's true, of course, I'm not receiving all of it at the same time…" _I could support a whole army with what I have now._

            "Right…You receive a portion of it every year you turn a certain age,"

            "Yes…"

            "I was thinking…since you are old enough and obviously smart enough…"

            Mia blushed at the thought of how she did academically.

            "No need to be modest," her grandfather laughed as he looked at her face.

            "I—I…" True, Mia was a genius when it came to math, science, etc. "I'm just lucky…"

            "Not lucky Meiala, smart. Truly smart and I figured that by taking care of your own finances, you'd learn the business kind of smart," Her grandfather said.

            "Oh…"

            "You don't really understand what I'm saying are you?"

            Mia blushed. "Not particularly…"

            Her grandfather laughed. "I don't either…Generally, I want you to take care of your finances." He smiled. "In doing so, you'll be able to keep your money management skills…There wasn't one conversation I hadn't had with your parents where they boasted of how well you managed your allowance,"

            "Mother and Father didn't believe in spending money foolishly,"

            "And I don't believe it either…So hopefully, with this new money, if you have any problems, I will help…but since you have a larger amount to tend to, I would like it if you took care of it yourself…get a feel of it, know what I mean?"

            "Hai," Mia grinned. "I understand…Thank you grandfather."

            "Anything for my little cherry blossom…" He smiled as they drove out of the highway and into town.

~*~*~

            "Hey Cye! Wait up!" A girl yelled. 

            _Miko…was that her name? Yeah… _Cye turned around running backwards. "Can't, I've gotta hurry home and get ready,"

            "Alright," She grinned as he turned around and started running once more.

            _Close… _He thought as he ran quickly to his car. Throwing the books in, he jumped into the seat and looked in the mirror. His school uniform was a bit rumpled if anything but with a flattened palm, he smoothed all the wrinkles out. Straightening his tie he turned on the ignition and quickly drove off towards where Mia was staying.

~*~*~

            "_Hey Grandpa Koji! It's Mouri Cye here, I know Mia is coming home tonight so no matter what she says, tell her I'm taking her out for a little fun tonight, see ya! _"

            Grandfather Koji chuckled. "That boy…I believe this is the first time he's ever don't something spontaneously,"

            "Cye…" Mia smiled to herself. She was finally meeting her best friend after all these years. 

            "Well Mia, you should probably get ready…if I didn't know that boy better, I'd say he'd be here in a few minutes," Her grandfather said tapping his watch. Smiling again, he motioned toward the stairs. "I'll show you to your room,"

            When Mia first came into the house, she was astonished at the size of it! It was much, much larger then her home in France and the style of the rooms were just wonderful. The rooms had a touch of Victorian yet Oriental feeling to it. "Wow…This house is beautiful," She murmured as she walked down the hall, which the wall showed portraits of relatives. At the end of the hall by her room was a painted picture of her father and mother smiling with a little girl dressed in pink smiling brightly while sitting on her mommy's lap. 

            "Thank you, and here's your room," her grandfather said as he opened the doors into a large room. 

            "Wow…" Mia breathed as she took in her surroundings. Turning back to her grandfather, she smiled. "This room, shouldn't it be yours?"

            "Nope, it's yours sweetheart, mine is down the hall from yours," He said pointing down the hall. "Do you like it? I tried to figure out how you'd like the room done but then I figured you might've wanted to style it yourself so—,"

            Mia turned and hugged him suddenly. "No, it's great, thank you so very much, grandpa,"

            He smiled and hugged her back.

~*~*~

            Cye checked his reflection in the mirror again as he pondered his thoughts. Would Mia remember him? Did he change much over the years? More importantly, how much did **she** change?

            Getting out of his car, he felt a sudden rush of nerves coming on. _Get a hold of yourself Cye…this is Mia we're talking about!_

            Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, it swung open on him. Standing before him was Mia…looking like a goddess.

            "Mia?" He asked as his eyes bugged out.

            "Cye?" She grinned.

            Opening his arms, they hugged each other. Cye closed his hand and pulled her into a headlock. "Noogy!" He grinned as he rubbed his fist over her head. 

Author's Note: Woot! Chapter 1 is now done…Woozahs! Hope you enjoyed it! ^_^ Review please! (Or not…whichever one you prefer…^_^;;)

~Angel 


	3. Chapter 2: Who Is Meiala?

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter Two: Who Is Meiala?

By ~*Angel*~

Heyas all! Betcha didn't expect me to update so darn fast eh? Well, neither did I, I was kind of bored and my juices are flowing like crazy so I figured…what the heck. Just write. ^_^ Besides, for some reason, I use to not care if you reviewed or not…just as long as you read the story and liked it or said something if you had something bad to say about it…I'm surprised that with me writing fanfics starring two of the most hated (and most loved) characters (aka Relena and Mia), then shouldn't I get flames? But I haven't and I'm so glad…I'm hoping that'll be a permanent trend. ^_^ 

Disclaimer: Youkai…THANK YOU! ^_^ Yes, you can take my brother and do with him whatever you please. Woot! ::cough:: Er…now for my disclaimer—hell, forget it. You all know what the procedure is. If I said it anymore times, it'd be like me trying to teach you all how to potty train once more. So there.

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter Two

By ~*Angel*~

            Mia and Cye walked companionably side-by-side down the busy roads of Shinjuku while Cye asked Mia questions about France and Mia asked Cye about what had happened during all these years. Stopping by an ice cream vendor, Cye reached into his pocket to take out a few yen and paid for the ice cream. Motioning towards the bench, Cye sat down with Mia close behind.

            "So you meet any guys in France?" Cye asked as he licked his ice cream.

            Mia blushed. "Not particularly, didn't really consort with males during my stay in France…Mom and Dad had given me a bunch of lessons so that I'd be busy. The school I went to was an all-girls' school so that's self-explanatory."

            "Did you ask for these lessons that your parents gave you?" Cye questioned as he started chomping on the cone.

            Mia nodded as she licked her spoon. "Hai, I've always wanted to learn how to take piano lessons. Then when I saw my first opera, Mom asked me if I wanted singing lessons so I figured to give it a shot. I decided I wanted ice skating lessons because it's such a popular sport back in France…and Mom said that a girl should never know how not to dance, so I took them."

            "Ballroom dancing?" Cye asked.

            "Ballroom dancing, swing…I did many varieties…except for square dancing. I'm not very fond of square dancing," Mia wrinkled her nose in effect.

            Cye chuckled. "Wow, for such a short stay, you sure did a lot. How'd you make time for your friends with all these lessons?"

            Mia's face grew white. "I didn't have many friends…"

            Cye looked at her narrowing his eyes. "Demo…why? Who could not like the great Meiala?" He joked, punching her in the arm, lightly.

            Mia giggled a bit then turned serious again. "I don't know…Mom always said that it was because I excelled in school rather fast and that the girls were jealous of me."

            "Oh…." Cye murmured. Finishing off the last of his ice cream cone, he got up and grabbed Mia's elbow. "Well, no worries, you're back now! My friends are your friends!"

            Mia's face whitened. "Uh Cye….Maybe that's not such a good idea."

            Cye grinned not noticing Mia's discomfort. "Of course it is! You'll love the guys…they're great! Kento is pretty tough but when you get to know him, he's as soft as a pussy cat. Ryo, man that boy's temper is bigger then the rest of ours…but if you get on his good side, he's a great person to hang out with. Sage is rather introverted and aloof…he's got the most amazing eyes…and hairstyle. Can't forget the hairstyle." Cye grinned as they started walking through the part. "Last but not least, Rowan Hashiba. That boy is smart! I swear, he's already got his whole life mapped out for him…He's already been offered scholarships to a few colleges."

            "Wow, they seem great…um, are they particularly going out with anyone?" Mia questioned.

            Cye shook his head. "Nope. In fact, Sage and Rowan are sometimes thought to be gay because they've turned down date after date,"

            Mia giggled. "Well…are they?"

            Cye through his head back and laughed. "Nah! But it is funny though…You know how Valentine's Day is coming up?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai! Ooo…did any girls give you candy?"

            "Yup, would you believe Sage got candy from **guys** also?" Cye whooped in laughter. "You should've seen his face when he told me, anyways…why'd you ask?"

            Mia shrugged. "No particular reason…I guess I don't really go well with girls…"

            "You're so lovable, they're just jealous," Cye grinned. Suddenly, he grabbed her arm. "Oh! I've gotta show you something! Shinjuku Park has one of THE most amazing rose gardens!" 

            "Ulp!" Mia yelped before she was dragged through the park. _Maybe coming back wasn't such a bad idea after all…_

~*~*~

            "Where's the fish-man?" Kento asked as he sat down with a tray full of McDonald burgers and fries. 

            Ryo shrugged. "Dunno, do you know Rowan?" He asked looking at the blue-haired man.

            Rowan shook his head. "Nope,"

            Sage who had been quiet throughout this whole exchange could feel the eyes on him. 

            "Well?" Kento murmured through a mouthful of food.

            Sage looked around then brought his head down low and whispered, "Cye is out on a date!"

            "NANI?!" Three voices chorused together. 

            Heads swiveled their way as the restaurant dropped in decibels.

            Sage sweat dropped as his eyes narrowed into lines and a faint blush creped up his neck. "Don't be so loud guys…"

            "So give us the details!" Rowan murmured forcefully to Sage. In fact, they were all curious as to who Cye's 'date' was. "What's this girl like?"

            "I'm kind of disappointed he didn't tell us…" Kento stated.

            Sage shrugged. "He didn't tell me much except to say that her name is Meiala,"

            "Meiala…that's a pretty name," Ryo commented, taking a large bite of his burger.

            "Anything else?" Kento asked taking a sip of his soda.

            Sage shook his head. "He didn't say much really, she's supposedly coming back from France, she's shy, and Cye hasn't seen her for two years. Matter of a fact…he's been in contact with her for the last year or so," 

            "Wow, he's been withholding information from us! A long distance relationship…" Kento wondered. "That's funny, Cye never ever mentioned a Meiala,"

            "Thank you Captain Obvious…" Rowan murmured under his breath as he looked out the window.  His eyes widened at the site of something. "Guys…"

            "You think she's pretty? Well, do you think she's hot?" Kento asked grinning.

            "Kento!" Sage exclaimed. Turning monotone, he shrugged, "I don't know, she could be…"

            "Guys…" Rowan murmured again not taking his eyes off the object of his affection.

            "She could look like a demon…" Ryo grinned making a scary face. "Just kidding!"

            "Well, whatever she's like, she and Cye must've been serious if they kept a long distance relationship,"  
            "We could be looking too much into this you know, he never said she was his girlfriend." Sage stated.

            "True true but come on Sage…what else could she be?" Ryo questioned.

            "Guys…" Rowan said louder this time.

            "She could be a really good friend," Sage answered.

            "In which, their friendship could turn into a more serious relationship," Kento nodded as-a-matter-of-factly.

            "Guys!" Rowan all but yelled. 

            "What is it Rowan? You didn't have to yell," Ryo said looking at his friend.

            Rowan sweat dropped. "Look out the window…Do you see what I see?"

            "Hai! An ice cream stand!" Kento grinned pumping his fist into the air.

            "Er…no. Look at the people around it…"

            Sage squinted so that the sun wasn't in his eyes. "That looks like…Cye!"

            "It **is** Cye!" Ryo agreed.

            Kento looked. "Wow…who's that chick next to him?"

            "Must be Meiala," Rowan said. "I can't really get a good look at her face…"

            "Cye seems to be having a really good time with her," Sage said thoughtfully. "Oh look! He's dragging her off into the direction of the Shinjuku Park!"

            Rowan quickly got up, curious as a cat. "I'm gonna follow them!"

            "No! Yes!" Ryo said as he shot up also. 

            Sage and Kento looked at them both. 

            "Wouldn't this be sort of an invasion of privacy?" Kento stated as he glanced at the disappearing pair.

            "I guess…but it's for a good cause! I mean we're gonna find out sooner or later!" Ryo grinned.

            "Might as well find out now," Rowan nodded in agreement.

            Sage sighed. "Cye might not like it very much if he found out we were spying on him…"

            "IF he found out…Besides, aren't you at least a tad bit curious as to who this Meiala is?" Rowan queried.

            "I am, so I'm game," Kento declared.

            Sage sighed. "I'm only coming so that you guys don't get into trouble…"

~*~*~

            "Did you hear something Mia?" Cye asked as he looked around them.

            Mia listened for a second.. "No, did you?"

            "I thought I did…" Cye murmured as he glanced into the thick trees.

            "Oh Cye! White roses! Red roses!" Mia practically squealed with glee as she bent down to look at the beautiful floral. 

            Cye chuckled. He'd never seen Mia so expressive with her feelings before. Suddenly, he heard another shuffle in the brushes and he thought he might've saw a flash of blond in the greenery. "How about I buy you a bouquet?" He requested turning his attention back to her.

            "Sure!" Mia grinned as she got up and hooked her arm through his. 

            Cye took one more look back into the bushes and saw nothing. _The sun is getting to me._

~*~*~

            "He's going to buy her a bouquet of roses! They must be pretty serious," Rowan said. (Image of Rowan in Sherlock Holmes get-up appears in the background.)

            Sage sighed as he leaned back. "Did any of you get a clear look at her face?"

            The other three looked sheepishly at him. "No…"

            "Come on! We can't lose them!" Rowan said as he tugged them along.

~*~*~

            "Ohh…Thank you so much Cye," Mia said as she buried her face into the roses.

            Cye smiled contently. "No problem, anything for my little sis right?"

            "Does that mean you'll buy me a car?" Mia joked.

            Cye sweat dropped and laughed awkwardly. "Okay okay, maybe not **everything**." 

            "I had a great time Cye, thanks, it was nice to see a familiar face when I first arrived here…"

            Cye nodded happily. "Am I going to see you in school?"

            Mia shook her head. "I'm going to ask grandfather if I can be home schooled…"

            Cye nodded again. "Wanna hang out after school tomorrow then?"

            "Sure! What time?"

            "Well I have to stay after school for sports…why don't you meet me there?"

            Mia hesitated. "Um…"

            "Is anything the matter? If you can't then that's okay," Cye declared.

            Mia blushed. "No no, it's alright, I'll come by…I'm spending the whole day tomorrow to unload my stuff,"

            "That's right, your stuff is arriving!"

            "Hai!" Mia nodded.

            "Alright then, I'll see ya tomorrow, you have to come by and meet Mom and Dad, they've been waiting to meet you!"

            "I will," Mia said. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks Cye,"

            "No prob," He smiled as she got out of the car and ran up the steps of the large Tudor.

            Waving bye to him, Mia grinned and went in.

Author's Note: Man oh man was that long! Okay, maybe not that long but still, it's around five pages right? In my Microsoft word it is…I'm miffed that Ff.Net doesn't let us do uploads with our own special fonts and colors…they always convert it to the ugly default font they use for everyone's fanfic. But I can't complain because FF.Net is doing all they can…so gambatte Ff.Net! Gambatte! Anyways, review if you want or not…^_~ If you do, it'll inspire me more…(That could be a bad thing though…o_O;;)

**Youkai Fire Fox/H.M.T**— Wow, when I saw your review, I was so happy! It was long and very helping. ^_^ Yeah, I need to correct my fanfic and what not with all the grammar errors I make…however, sometimes, I'm so excited that I have something finished and I want to show it to everyone. As for the pairings…Girl, I couldn't agree with you more! First, I use to somewhat like Mia & Ryo pairings…I couldn't see Mia with Kento because I don't know why…o_O;; It's just one of those weird things…As for Mia & Sage, Mia & Rowan, and Mia & Cye pairings….I could really see some chemistry. So…I figured to write one. ^_^ I don't know what the pairings are yet though…Lol…And you! You have to start working on BMR girl! I wanna read more of it…^_^ Never read a vampire story of Ronin Warriors! Woot! Thanks for reviewing!

~*Angel*~


	4. Chapter 3: Love All! First Serve!

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 3: Love All! First Serve!

By ~*Angel*~

                Ohayo! ^_^ Well, I don't expect my updating to really be fast since the weekend ended and back to school…But I'm going to write down any ideas I have for the next chapters. I didn't think I'd actually get so many reviewers! Would you believe it jumped up from 9 reviews to 24? That's pretty darn cool! After the story, I'll answer some of the questions you guys had…Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Ja! NOTE: I am changing my spelling from 'Cye' to 'Sai' just because it's the better of the two. ^_^

Disclaimer: Haven't we gone through this? _ WHAT? No?! What the hell is THAT suppose to mean?! Don't you READ my other disclaimers?! No?!!!! You know what…Bite me.

                Mia wrinkled her nose as she realized another one of her good suits was wrinkled because of the harsh way they were handled during the move. She would need to get these professionally ironed; otherwise, she'd burn them because the fabric was so delicate. Folding her undergarments carefully, she glanced at all the boxes around her room. Many of the items from their home in France was moved here, some pieces were kept there so that she could go and stay there whenever she wanted…or whenever her grandfather allowed her to. More shelves were arranged to fit into the room so that she could fit in all her books. Most, if not all, of her collection of books consisted of romance for she **loved** to read romance. Unbinding the string that held a set of clothes' hangers, she glanced once more around her room. Then winced when she pulled to hard. Hanging up her clothes, she could almost say that she was done. She didn't have all that many clothes and most of them had been in garment bags so they came equipped with hangers. All she had to do was hang them up in her walk-in closet.

                "Hey Mia," her grandfather said as he rapped on her door, sticking his head in. "Lunch is ready,"

                "Hai, arigato, I'll be right down," her muffled voice came from the closet.

                "Alright, hurry though, rice gets cold rather fast," he replied on his way out.

                Coming out of the closet, Mia let her hair down and quickly braided it, pining it around her head. Still wearing her pajamas, she quickly dressed into her tennis outfit. Later, after lunch, she had figured she'd go and play tennis to keep her tennis swing in shape. After she finished dressing, she grabbed frame from the middle of her desk and looked fondly at it. It was a picture of her, her mother, and her father in front of the Eiffel Tower. She hugged the frame to her chest, and then quickly set it back down on her desk.   
                "Mia!" her grandfather shouted from the floors below.

                "Coming!" She yelled back. Sticking her feet into her slippers, she quickly ran down the steps with her tennis bag in hand. 

~*~*~

                "Yes! Tennis! My favorite sport of the year!" Rowan whooped as they all got onto the bus. 

                Kento stared at him. (AN: Sort of like this: ¬_¬) "I hate it."

                "I don't mind actually, it's a good sport," Sage stated as he swung his racket.

                Ryo dodged quickly and sweat dropped. "Watch where you're swinging that will you?"

                Sage laughed as he stuck one hand behind his head. "Gomen!"

                Sai laughed at them all as he carried his own tennis equipment.

                "Sage-kun!" A girl shouted.

                Sage's eyes contradicted to dots. _Uh-oh…Naoko…If she's here…her groupie isn't far behind. Which means…_

"My little Ro-kun!" Another girl shouted.

                Rowan blushed as **his** eyes contradicted to dots. "Lindsay…Please don't call me that."  
                She grabbed his arm. "Too cutesy for you huh? How about I just call you Rowan?"

                Rowan shook his head. "Er…Why not just Rowan-chan?"

                "Oh Rowan, that's too formal!"

                "Rowan-chan."

                She sighed dramatically. "Fine fine, Rowan-chan. So, you want to be my partner?"

                "Actually, Sage and I are partners."

                She narrowed her eyes, staring at him. "Hmmm…"

                Rowan knew exactly what she was thinking. He also knew what she was going to ask next.

                "Are you gay?" She pointedly asked.

                Rowan sighed. Before he could get  a word in otherwise, their teacher started speaking.

                "Alright guys, we might be a bit short on tennis courts since it is a public place so there might be people already there." Mr. Yamaguchi, their gym teacher, stated. "You have today to choose who your partner will be. Tomorrow, we'll start the ladder tournament."

                Rowan quickly sat down next to Sage before Naoko and Lindsay could sit down next to them. Of course…the two girls chose the seats across. 

                "Oh yeah, one more thing…doubles have to be one boy, one girl."  
                Sage and Rowan winced inwardly as they turned simultaneously toward Lindsay and Naoko who were already looking at them with big grins on their faces.

                "_DAMMIT_!"

~*~*~

                "Alright grandfather, love all, first serve!" Mia brought her ball up and swung her racket at it. Grandfather Koji countered it by backhanding it to her in a strange sort of spiral. Luckily, she caught it and dropped it…only for her grandfather to spike it behind her, too far for her to reach. 

                "Yeah!" he grinned at her as he got back into position. 

                Mia laughed. "I'll get you back for that one!"

                "You can try…" He winked as they moved to the left side.

                "Love fifteen, first serve," she was ready to throw her ball up into the air when a large bus rolled into the road in front of the courts letting out a large 'whoosh' as it stopped. Many of the other tennis players stopped their games and watched. Soon, a large number of students were piling out of the bus. 

                "Come on Mia!" her grandfather shouted ready to get back to the game.

                "Hai! Love fifteen, first serve!" She brought the ball up and swung her racket down hard on it. Her skirt flew up when she jumped revealing her white spandex shorts. Spandex helped her move around easier. The game quickly progressed.

~*~*~

                "Lessee, three courts are taken which leaves seven courts…four people per court…Maximum number of people we can have on a court is 28 people!" Rowan said as he hurried to the fence door.

                "We have around 35 to 36 people in our gym class," Sage replied as he stuck on a pair of sunglasses to shade his eyes from the sun.

                "That's okay, I'm sure a court will be open soon…in the mean time, let's go grab a court!"

~*~*~

                Mia bounced the ball a couple of times as she adjusted her wristband and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Forty all, first serve!" She shouted as she brought the ball up and swung at it.

~*~*~

                "Forty all, first serve!" A female voice shouted as it caught the attention of a few students attending a nearby court.

                Sai glanced over and his eyes widened in effect. Mia and Grandfather Koji were in their tennis wear playing what he could only deem as a harsh game. The thing that shocked him was the fact that Mia was playing in a **skirt**. His relief came through when he remembered that the sort of skirt Mia was playing in was a tennis skirt…which then said that she was definitely wearing shorts under it.

                Kento, who was partnered up with a girl called Kayura, motioned toward Sai. Ryo noticed his friend's interest and was about to call out but Sai's partner beat him to the punch.

                Miko tapped Sai with her racket. "Sai?" She turned her head towards the direction of where Sai had been staring. _Had been…_

                "Oh…gomen," he said as he bounced the ball a couple of times and hit it over the net to warm up. Which…was Ryo and a girl named Sakura.

                Miko narrowed her eyes at the brown haired girl and the old man playing. _Who is she?_

~*~*~

                Mia bounced the ball several times and wiped off her sweaty forehead. "Game point, second serve!" Throwing the ball up into the air, she swung it down as hard as she could. Her grandfather returned it with a dainty drop but she ran up and returned it with a backhand. She had no time to return to her spot when Grandfather Koji returned it. The ball flew up…and _SMACK!_

She had spiked the ball right into Grandfather Koji's racket. The force of it was so much and since Grandfather Koji wasn't prepared…

                _CRACK!! _It sounded very much like a loud firecracker going off as the worn down racket snapped in half and the head of it hit Grandfather Koji in the _his _head

                _Oh my god…_She dropped her racket and started running towards the figure on his knees tending his head wound. Hurdling over the net, she took off her wristband and held it to his head. "Oh goodness, grandfather, I'm really sorry,"

                He chuckled lowly. "It's alright Mia, no worries, I'm fine, really I am,"

                "Mia! Grandfather Koji!" A familiar voice shouted as a few people started running towards them.

                Mia turned her head around and saw Sai running towards them. "Sai?" Her facial expressions brightened but then went back to being serious when she realized that her grandfather was bleeding in the head. 

                Mr. Yamaguchi knelt down next to Grandfather Koji. Students had paused their playing and watched the scene fold before them. "What happened?" He asked.

                Mia cleared her throat. "The tennis racket snapped and it hit my grandfather's head,"

                Taking away the wristband, he looked at the cut and winced. "I think he might need a few stitches,"

                "We're about to leave, we can drive him there," an old couple who had been playing next to Mia and her grandfather spoke up.  

                "Can I come?" Mia asked hopefully.

                The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry dear, we have a small car, the back could usually seat three people but it's occupied with a few boxes for our library. Don't worry, we can get him back to you in no time,"

                Mia nodded as she held her grandfather's hand. _Just my luck._

                "Don't worry little one, I'll be fine," he grinned as he got up, holding the wristband to his forehead wound.

                Mia watched as they walked off towards the parking lot. She felt like she could cry.

                "Hey Mia…" Sai spoke softly. "It's alright,"

                "Yes, in the meantime, why don't you wait for your grandfather and play with my class?" Mr. Yamaguchi said.

                Mia looked up surprised. "Oh…I wouldn't want to impose,"

                "Not at all! In fact, since there's a free court, you can be my partner," Mr. Yamaguchi offered kindly.

                "That would be nice," Mia smiled as she got up.

                Mr. Yamaguchi nodded and ran towards the equipment to grab a racket.

                Turning her attention towards Sai, she broke out into a large grin.

                Sai couldn't help but grin back as he opened his arms for a hug to which Mia stepped into. This did NOT go unnoticed.

~*~*~

                Miko narrowed her eyes into slits as she stared at Sai and that STRANGE girl hugging. _Who is she?_

                Sage, Kento, Rowan, and Ryo traded glances. 

                "Is that Sai's girlfriend?" Lindsay asked Sage as she looked at the hugging pair.

                "I…didn't think so…But she is," Sage replied, not being able to come up with any other solution.

                "It's official," Rowan stated nodding his head effectively.

~*~*~

                Sai returned and waved to Mia. He turned around just in time to avoid colliding into Miko. "Hey Miko-chan, gomen, I almost ran into you," He smiled.

                She didn't hear. She couldn't hear. She was still staring at the brownish-reddish with an odd glint in her eyes.

                Sai tapped her. "Miko? We're going to start now…"

                "Hai," She replied mechanically as she turned around and got into her position. Her features suddenly changed as she grinned up at him. "What's the score?"

                Sai grinned back. "Love all, remember? We just started,"

                She giggled. "Oh silly me, of course we did!"

~*~*~

                The attention of the students were quickly diverted as they watched their teacher and the mysterious girl play a game of tennis. The ball was going back and forth…spikes were returned from both sides and drops were returned also. Deep shots had many times made Mia and Mr. Yamaguchi slam into the fence to hit the ball.

                "This is game point right?"

                "That's what I heard."

                "Wow…that girl, she's really good,"

                "You know who she is Sai?" Kento asked as he hung a sweaty arm around his best friend. 

                Sai nodded as he concentrated on the game.

                "What's her name?"

                "Meiala Koji," Sai responded shortly.

                _Meiala…Sai's girlfriend! _Kento couldn't wait to tell the others about his discovery.

~*~*~

                Mia felt balls of sweat rolling down over her face. She didn't have her wristband to wipe away the sweat so that none of it got into her eyes so she had to let them be and blink them out. That was her mistake. She saw the ball go flying but she just wasn't fast enough even when she dived for it. "Damn," She cursed.

                "Gamepoint," Mr. Yamaguchi said from the other side as Mia picked herself up. "I'm telling you girl, you play one heck of a harsh game," he held his hand out to Mia which Mia took; and then turned his attention back to the class. "Alright guys, time to wrap it up,"

                "Yeah coach! AWESOME GAME!" Someone shouted as a group of the guys and girls clapped and cheered.

                Mia blushed as they hooted and hollered.

                "Thank you, now get your butts moving or the bus will be late in bringing you back to your next period," The gym teacher ordered as he started toward the equipment area.

                Sai quickly dropped his racket into the bin and ran towards Mia who was putting the cover on her tennis racquet. "Hey Mia, I have lunch next period and I was thinking about going to McDonald's, meet me there will you?"

                Mia grinned. "Um…which one?"

                "Here, I'll write down the directions on a piece of paper for you," he said as he grabbed out a pen. "Er…Do you have some paper?" He smiled sheepishly.

                She shook her head but held up her palm. "Here," 

                He gently scribbled down a few directions. "I'll be there shortly, see ya then!"

                Mia nodded. "Kay, bye!" She was careful as to not mess up the writing. She had to hurry for she needed to change out of her sweaty outfit and into a nice one if she was to meet Sai at McDonald's. Watching as the bus rolled out of the driveway, she hurried to her grandfather's jeep. Thank goodness she looked as if she was old enough for if she didn't, she'd be pulled over. She didn't have a driver's licensed by the Japanese government, only by the French and that wouldn't exactly work so well here. 

~*~*~

                Kento nudged at Ryo and they both stared at Sai. He had the oddest expression on his face as he stared out the window. 

                "I bursting with curiosity as to who that girl is and what her relationship to Sai is." Rowan said to Sage as they looked at Sai.

                "Okay, it's rather obvious that they're boyfriend girlfriend…However, I don't think Sai would appreciate it if we bugged him about it." Sage answered back.

                "Why not?"

                "Well, he'll basically talk to us about it when he wants to," Sage replied.

                Rowan nodded. "That's true…then you know what this means?"

                "No Rowan…No…"

                Rowan grinned as Ryo and Kento turned around grinning just as bright. "Yosh!" They chorused like a bunch of little kids.

                Sage groaned as a large sweat drop rolled down his face. "Ano…"

~*~*~

On the next episode of "The Ugly Duckling"…

Sage: The guys are in a ruckus about who this strange Meiala girl is. Of course, they're all rather curious as to why he left lunch so fast without even an explanation…then there's the fact that he scribbled something on her hand.

Rowan: Aren't YOU curious Sage? Forget I asked…I **know** you are!  

Sage: I still think you guys are reading too much into this!

Rowan: Demo, how can you not read into this? He gave her a hug! And I don't think it was one of those 'oh-I've-missed-you-best-friend' hug, it was a 'you're-hot-fudge-I'm-the-sundae' kind of hug!

Kento: Eh…how would you know Rowan?

Rowan: I just know alright?!

Kento: Not a good enough explanation, you've never had a girlfriend, in fact you're thought of as-

Rowan: Shut up bakayaro!

Sage: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 4: Rowan the Spy.

Mia: Sai, I think we're being watched…

~*~*~

**Li-Chan: **Mia and Sai are cousins but only cousins through marriage. Meaning one of their distant relatives married each other and that's what made Mia and Sai cousins. They aren't blood-related…however they are related so yes, it is legal for them to get together and it wouldn't be incest. However, I'm not sure yet if he's the person I want to pair Mia up with…I'm sort of deciding between him, Rowan, and Sage. ^_^

**Rockergirl: **Actually, it's impossible to have gained confidence to face the tormentors who have basically tormented you your whole life or even be confident anymore. Besides, Mia just went through the death of her father and mother so of course she's still meek and shy. I don't want this to turn into a Mary-Sue so I'd be hitting it pretty close (I already am) if she had confidence. Don't worry…^_~ There's more to come, who's to say she won't have her confidence by the end of this fic?

**Everyone Else: **Arigato minna-san for your wonderful reviews! Don't forget, if you have any problems or questions, just ask! Ja ne!

~*Angel*~


	5. Chapter 4: Rowan, The Spy

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 4: Rowan, The Spy

By ~*Angel*~

                Finally, chapter 4 is out! I worked on this sucker for such a long time…okay, I didn't really, I just took a long time to start working on it. I'm such a procrastinator. But I don't want to lose all my readers so I have to update…^_^ Some good news appeared though…I was searching through my archives and I found a fanfic that I had written a **long** time ago after I had seen this movie "While You Were Asleep" starring Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock. I'm going to upload it as soon as I rewrite some of the parts…Next, I have a few fanfic ideas roaring in my head and I'll probably reveal them in the next chapter…They're going to be Ronin Warriors because I've gotten tired of some of the other series and writing about Ronin Warriors is fun. ^_^ Alright, I've spoken enough…see ya!

Disclaimer: BITE ME.

                Sai checked his watch as he shoved his books and book bag into the locker before him. "Darn it, I hope I'm not going to be late…" He muttered. _I don't think I even set a time to meet her…_He looked towards the lunchroom where he usually met Rowan, Sage, Kento, and Ryo for lunch. Today, however, he would have to skip it. "I should probably tell them," Shutting his locker, he waited a few moments for his friends to show up. When they didn't, he gave a frustrated sigh and quickly left through the corridor doors.

~*~*~

                "Sai?" Kento questionably muttered as he watched the retreating figure. 

                "Where's Sai going?" Ryo asked as he looked out the window.

                "I don't know…He didn't say anything about leaving," Kento responded as he turned back around to walk to the cafeteria. "You think he might be going to meet that Meiala girl?" 

                "It's a possibility," A familiar voice spoke up from behind them. Rowan's face clearly expressed he thought it to be the truth. "It's more then a possibility…I mean did you seen him bulldozing through all those people just to get to his car? The boy hasn't even straightened out his tie before rushing out to the parking lot."

                "Speaking of ties, this damn things are irritable," Sage muttered coming up from behind Rowan. He tugged at his uncomfortably. "I don't know why we wear these trap devices," He looked up at the other three and cleared his throat. "Even if Sai **is** going to meet Meiala, if that's who the girl we met today is, then what's it to us?"

                "We're his friends, we should know this sort of stuff," Ryo said as he glanced out the window again. "But you know, he'll probably tell us sooner or later…"

                "Don't you think that if he hasn't told us by now, he probably never will? I mean come on…Sai trusts us with everything, he would've told us the moment he met this girl," Kento objected.

                "Maybe he thinks he's told us but in truth, he hasn't?" Sage suggested calmly as they walked toward the cafeteria. Seeing the look on his comrades' faces, he sweatdropped. "Or maybe not…"

                "I'm going to follow him," Rowan said as he turned swiftly and went out the door that Sai had gone through.

                "Rowan!" Sage called narrowing his eyebrows.

                Rowan didn't answer.

                "That boy is set on his destination…Speaking of destination, lets go find a place to sit down. I'm so hungry," Kento complained as they walked through the lunch doors. "I hope I have enough to eat…"

                Ryo and Sage looked at each and chuckled. Kento **always** had enough to eat.

~*~*~

                Rowan sat down at the café across the road from McDonald's. From here, he could see the same brown-red hair color belonging to that of the girl they had met during gym today and the auburn-red head of Sai's. Sai was sitting across from her and they were laughing gaily about something she had just said. _What is she to Sai? And if she's his girlfriend, wouldn't he have told us? Or maybe Sage was right…Sai tends to be forgetful so maybe he THINKS he told us but in reality, he hasn't? Dammit, I'm gonna…I'm gonna…_"I gonna find out who she is!" He punched his fist up into the air, ignoring the stares of people nearby.

~*~*~

                "So how's Uncle Koji doing? Wait…should I be calling him Grandpa Koji?" Sai questioned more to himself rather then Mia.

                Mia giggled. "I doubt he'd really care…but Grandpa Koji has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? And he is doing fine…the nice couple, the Koishi's, dropped him off so he's resting at the house right now…It's got a nasty swell…" She frowned. "Darned racket…I shouldn't have trusted such an ancient thing to not break after such a long period of time."

                Sai took a large bite out of his hamburger. Suddenly, he had a prickly feeling at the back of his neck; turning his head, he surveyed the surroundings. Inside the McDonald's building, one could clearly see that they were busy. Across the street at the Coco Café, he saw waitresses and waiters scurrying around serving the orders of all their customers. Shrugging the prickly feeling off, he turned back to Mia and met her concerned gaze.

                "Is everything alright?" She asked, delicately sipping her milkshake.

                Sai shook his head and grinned. "I've still got an hour left, how about I take you shopping?"

                "You wouldn't mind?" Mia asked, her eyes growing wide.

                "Of course not!" Sai grinned. 

                Mia laughed. "A male liking shopping…I'm writing that down,"

                Sai thwapped her lightly, grinning. "Stop laughing or I won't take you. Besides, I'm only taking you to show you around town!"

                "Yeah yeah…" Mia grinned lopsidedly.

                A mischievous glint shimmered in Sai's blue-green eyes. "Mia…I warned you…" Grabbing her before she even had a chance to think about the comment, he put her in a headlock and rubbed his fist vigorously on top of her shiny brown-red head. "Noogie!"

                "SAI!" She squealed.

~*~*~

                Rowan almost quit this mission when Sai turned his way and looked at him. Considering Sai's reaction, or lack of, Sai didn't seem to have seen Rowan. It was a good thing that waiter came along when she did and blocked him from anybody that happened to be looking at him during that time. "Noogie?" He whispered to himself as he watched Meiala and Sai engage in a friendly struggle. Quickly following the retreating couple, he wondered why he was doing this in the first place.

                _To find out who she is, duh._

_                Yeah…but why am I so interested? Sai's been out with a bunch of girls before…Why does she seem so special? To Sai I mean…_

_                Yeah yeah…just be careful or you're in big trouble…_

_                Alright alright…jeez…_

Rowan blushed as the realization hit him. He was **talking** to himself. Not that it was bad…but it wasn't exactly normal. That wasn't so bad. "ARGH! Where the heck are they?" He swiveled his head looking in all directions before finding the couple again.

                "Sir…are you alright?" A man asked him, eyes widened.

                "Yeah yeah…" he muttered as he stalked off his eyes set on the two people he had come to investigate.

~*~*~

                "Sai and Rowan should be back by now…"

                "Well, there's Sai's car!" Kento pointed out as the familiar car rolled in. 

                "Alright, if he asks where Rowan was, we tell him that Rowan is doing some extra credit project,"

                "Sounds like Ro,"

                "Hey guys!" Sai's excited expression greeted their table. "How was your lunch? You know, I meant to tell you guys I was going out but I was running late so gomen nasai,"

                "S'alright, we were just worried…where'd you go?" Sage asked as he sipped his drink.

                "More to the point…WHO'D you go with?" Kento asked bluntly.

                Sage and Ryo elbowed Kento, _hard._

                Kento's face turned a faint shade of red before he gulped. "Okay okay…forget my question…" He wheezed clutching his sides.

                Sai looked suspiciously at them. "I went out with Meiala, you know that girl we met today? Anyways, I invited her to McDonald's and took her shopping—why are you guys looking at me like that? And Kento…is there something wrong with you? Your face is turning a lovely shade of purple," He commented dryly.

                Kento grimaced as he felt two bony elbows poking his ribs. "I'm alright…just a stomach ache,"

                "What did I tell you about eating too fast? Jeez…" Sai shook his head. Looking around, he noticed that they were missing a member of their little group. "Where's Ro?"

                "Doing extra credit," Sage replied as he finished off his drink.

                "Didn't he just do extra credit two days ago?" Sai asked confused.

                "And he's doing it again…" Ryo chirped his voice changing from a deep husky sound to a high squeaky sound.

                "You know, you guys are acting weird…"

                "How so?" Sage asked crossing his arms back and laying back.

                "Well Kento there looks like he's constipated, Ryo sounds like a pre-pubescent teen going through puberty…and Sage…you're acting more of a Casanova then ever," Sai commented nodding his head in agreement.

                Silence empowered the four.

                Suddenly, all they did was laugh which got stares from groups all over the cafeteria.

~*~*~

                "All my life, I've lived in this town and I get myself LOST in a damn shopping mall," Rowan muttered to himself. He had somehow gotten himself trapped in the Women's department. Just as long as he didn't—

                "Great." Rowan groaned as turned back around. He had found himself in the under garment section of the store…of ALL the places, he had gotten stuck here. While following Sai and Meiala, he had somehow gotten the girl's shiny reddish-brown top mixed up with another girl's head. Quickly running, he could feel himself becoming more and more frustrated. Grabbing a tuft of his blue hair and pulling it, he swore. "Dammit, if I don't get out of here I'm gonna-," 

                "Hi," A kind voice chirped from behind him. Turning around, he looked at the owner of the voice. 

                "My name is Mia Koji," She said holding out a hand towards him.

_Kaze ni midareta kami o. Yasashiku naderu_

_Anata no hitomi miru no ga kowai_

_Hiza no furue ga douka   Osamaru made wa_

_Nukumori no naka amaesasete ite_

                Rowan could only stare.

                Mia could feel his stare on her. Blushing, she scratched her head and laughed awkwardly. "I know you must think I'm weird to come up to you like this but you seemed frustrated and lost. I only wanted to see if I could help…well, do you?" She questioned. Then giggled as she stole a look at a tuft of his hair standing straight up. 

                Rowan shook his head and felt the blood rising to his cheeks. Brushing  his hand through his hair and smoothing it down, he grinned crookedly. "H-hi…My name's Rowan," He offered his hand.

                Mia grinned back and shook it. "Hi,"

_Yume ja nai, yume ja nai no Aa Mou_

_      Kuchibiru de kawaru no   Ima made no futari ga_

_      Hanasanai, hanasanaide   Aa   Mou_

_      Kokorogoto daki shime   ...te ite_

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Sage: There's something wrong with Rowan…he looks miserable and he blushes whenever we start talking about Meiala…I think something happened between them.

Kento: Plus, I'm mad he won't tell us anything  about Sai and that Meiala girl. What was he doing the whole time? Lollying around?

Ryo: He almost looks lovesick.

Kento: Rowan? Lovesick?! Ryo, there must be something wrong with you. That boy has hormones only for books.

Ryo: Back off! I think I know when a guy is in love!

Kento: Uh-huh…this coming from a guy who has his own altar to the soccer god and never paid attentions to a girl. Yeah. I'm SURE you know what you're talking about.

Ryo: There is no such thing as a soccer god and even if there is, my ROOM is not an ALTAR! It just might have more soccer things then normal people do.

Kento: Is too! And you ARE definitely not normal.

Ryo: Is not! Yes I am!

Sai: Will you two please stop bickering? I'm worried about Rowan…if anything, he looks feverish. I think with it being almost mid-term week, he's been studying too hard and he's stressing himself out. Maybe we should take him out to the ski resort this weekend.

Kento: Great idea! I'm up for it! Babe galore! 

Ryo: Is that all you can **think** of?

Kento: Nope…I think of many other things such as…

Sage: ::sigh:: Next on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 5: Rowan's Sickness

Rowan: WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??

^_^ Well, I hope you all enjoyed that small chapter. The song you heard at the end is "Moment" from Marmalade Boy sung by Kouda Mariko. If you've heard it, it fits the ending almost perfectly…Also, will you guys check my website for updates? I've decided to quit Geocities and get my own domain name. Enough of that…you guys will read all about it at my website.  This was a REALLY short chapter. Since I'm kind of sick, inspiration wasn't really flowing when I wrote this so I'm rather sorry if it's a bit dry. The next chapter is being written as we speak…ja ne! Thanks for the reviews!

~Angel


	6. Chapter 5: Rowan’s Sickness

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 5: Rowan's Sickness

By ~*Angel*~

Heyas all! Wow! I didn't think I'd be writing this chapter so quick! Anyways, since inspiration struck, I figured I'd write it down before I lose it all. I should really be working on my history project but I'm such a procrastinator that I can't help it. Enjoy. J

Disclaimer: Brrrrrrrrrrains.

            Mia grinned and shook Rowan's hand. "Hi." She greeted the second time as the boy kept on staring at her. Her confidence was wearing down with every second that he looked at her. She felt as if his deep blue eyes saw right through her façade…Turning her head away. She blushed. "Um…On second thought, I'm new to this town so I probably wouldn't be of much help to you anyways. It was silly of me to bother you…Actually, it isn't like me to just start a conversation-Oh my, I'm digging myself deeper into this then I'm suppose to…" She blabbered on aware that her face must be the same color of blood. Laughing awkwardly, she scratched her head and started inching away. "You know, I'm lost myself in this stupid store…so I'll leave you to your shopping and I'll go now…sorry to bother you," Turning around, she groaned inwardly. _Baka! Baka! Baka! _She scolded herself as a chibi-fied image of herself pounded another chibi-fied image of herself on the head. 

            "Wait!" Rowan heard himself call out. He felt the blood rushing to his face again and started to take deep breaths so that his blood pressure would slow down…unfortunately, the blush was still visible. "I'm sorry, I have this weird tendency to…stare at people," _Oh real good Rowan. Now she'll think you're a mental case. That is, if you AREN'T one already. _"You know, I have a great idea," 

            "Yes?" Mia asked, her interest piqued.

            _I can't believe I'm doing this. _"Um…Since we're both lost, why don't we help each other find the way out? Like I always say, two heads are better then one right?" Rowan grinned as he winced inwardly. _SMOOOOTH…REAL SMOOOTH…_

            Mia chuckled. "Believe it or not, that's one of my favorite quotes,"

            Rowan's eyes widened. "Great…" He squeaked out. _You were lucky that time…no more cheesy lines-what am I thinking? Cheesy lines? Am I trying to impress her? Okay, there's nothing wrong with that…Just no flirting. She's Sai's girl, she's off limits. _

Mia cleared her throat. "Um…where do we start?"

            "How about…that way?" Rowan randomly chose his left.

            Mia looked. "Alright, but if we run into the males' underwear section, I'll give you one of my cousin's world-famous noogies," A lopsided grin made its way on her face.

            _Cousin? She has a cousin? Hmmm…could it be Sai? Dammit Ro, don't get your hopes up too high. _Rowan smiled. "After you my lady,"

~*~*~

            "Where WERE you Ro? Did you get lost or something?" Sage whispered into his friend's ears.

            "Hai hai, I got lost in the shopping mall…you won't believe--," Rowan began whispering back before he was cut off.

            "Hashiba-san! Report to this front desk immediately," The teacher exclaimed glaring at him over her bifocals.

            Rowan gulped. This was not good. "H-hai, Sensei-san,"

~*~*~

            "Ah…" Kento sighed grinning as he slung an arm around Rowan's shoulders. "How does it FEEL to get your first detention slip?"

            Rowan glared at Kento as he gently took his arm off his shoulders. 

            "Alright alright…sore subject, so, did you find out about Meiala and Sai?" Kento grinned, changing to a more neutral topic.

            Rowan's face burned bright red and stony silence ensnared.

            "Okay then…Something happened, this is juicy, do tell!" Kento grinned like a 3 year old child.

            Rowan looked into his locker as a flashback occurred.

~*~*~

            _Rowan grinned sheepishly as he got out of the red jeep. "Thanks for giving me a ride, I can't believe I missed the bus like that…"_

_            "No problem, you helped me get out of that mall didn't you?" Mia questioned grinning._

_            "Well, we helped each other didn't we?" Rowan stated more then questioned._

_            "Nah, I say you helped out more…" Laughing, Mia smiled at Rowan. "Okay, this is getting us no where. Anyways, thanks for the wonderful afternoon, you're one of the first few friends I've made since coming back to Japan,"_

_            "Well I'm glad to have helped," Rowan said as he grinned bowing._

_            Mia blushed. "It meant a lot…really,"_

_            Next thing that came out of Rowan's mouth gave himself the greatest shock. "You know Mia, you look really pretty when you blush,"_

_            Mia's eyes widened slightly but closed as if he had never said a word. "Thank you Rowan…I must be going, good day," With that she drove off._

_            Rowan smacked himself in the forehead. "BAKA!" _She's Sai's, not yours Ro. And of all the stupid things to say-…

~*~*~

            "Ro? Hey Ro!" Kento waved his hands feverously in front of Rowan. "Hello! Are you in there? Jeez, you zoned out for like ten minutes,"

            "Like? Kento, I think all those football practices and cheerleaders are getting to you," Sage started coming up from behind Kento. "Hey Ro, heard about the detention, sorry about that bud,"

            Rowan shrugged. "It's alright…it's only my first one. I'll be able to get some mid-term studying in anyways so it's good…"

            "Dammit, mid-terms…and I almost forgot about it," Kento groaned. 

            "Then it's good we reminded you," Rowan commented coldly.

            "What's with the attitude today Ro? You seem a bit edgy," Ryo stated coming up from behind. "Oh…what'd you find out about Meiala?"

            Rowan saw another figure coming up towards him. _Sai… _Rubbing his forehead he gave them what he hoped to be a pained one. "Sorry Ryo, I have a pounding headache, I should probably get home and take some aspirin, sorry guys,"

            "Hey no prob, if you need anything, just call," Sage was concerned.

            "Yeah, I know, thanks for the offer but a few pills, hit the sack for a few hours and I'll all good," Rowan shut his locker and grabbed his briefcase-bag. "See ya," He waved walking out the doors.

            "Hey guys," Sai said a little out of breath. "Where's Ro going?" 

            "Poor guy has a headache…probably all that numerous amount of studying that he's doing," Kento whistled. 

            "That reminds me, we should organize a study group for the mid-terms…remember how we bombed last times?" Sage recalled from last year.

            Ryo and Kento groaned. They had barely past their midterms last year. Partying was their life back then. This year, they could start anew. Floating above them, images of a grinning Sage, Sai, and Rowan with 95s circling around them clouded Ryo's and Kento's thoughts. Sweat dropping, they nodded. "We're in!" They chorused.

            "You guys can use my house," Sai chirped in.

            "Alright, then it's settled! I'll call Rowan tonight!" Sage said.

~*~*~

            There was a troubled expression marring Sage's face as he slowly trodded his way through the forest, which was a short cut to his home. Something was bothering Rowan big time but it definitely wasn't the detention. Of course, he knew that that must've added to the thoughts that must've been going through his best friend's mind. Suddenly, he heard a few screams and found a large familiar fur ball practically flying towards him. "No no, down boy, DOW-!" Before he could step out of the way, the large sheep dog jumped on him and flattened him to the ground smothering Sage's face with wet kisses. 

            The plump round women who had been screaming a moment earlier, gasped for air as she supported herself on a nearby tree. "Sorry Date-san, but Sean-chan broke free of his leash and started running here."

            Sage scratched his dog's head affectionately. "Awee…then I guess I'll have to take you shopping for a new leash huh? But no treats this time," 

            The dog stood erectly when the word treats had been used. Sean made a few small barks and whimpering noises as he turned on his back pawing the air with his gargantuan furry paws and his eyes drooping.

            "Alright alright you big fur ball, get up," Sage responded chuckling. "I'll buy you a big toy but only if you promise to not cause any more troubles for Miss Hana over there, okay?"

            The large dog barked happily as he jumped on Sage again slobbering all over the school uniform.

            Sage laughed. "Get off you big oaf," He patted the dog's head more affectionately once more.

            "You spoil that dog Date-san," Miss Hana chuckled and her rotund body shook with it.

            "That's because I got him so that I had someone to spoil," Sage gave her one of his famous grins as he walked ahead with Sean.

~*~*~

            _What is WRONG with me? _Rowan groaned as he put his head down on the desk, unable to concentrate on the study sheets he had carefully spread out on the desk. Peeking over his arm and looking out the window, he sighed and rubbed his temples. Today had probably been one of the worst days ever…first of all, if Meiala mentioned to Sai the comment Rowan gave her, Sai would wonder **why** he had been hanging out with his girlfriend. Second, Sai would wonder why Rowan was hitting on Meiala. _Well, it's not as if Sai actually said they're going out, right? They could just be close—don't kid yourself Ro. _Sighing once again, he downed his whole glass of water and averted his eyes back to papers. _Enough about them…I need to worry about my midterms. If I'm able to take those college courses, I need to get a high grade on these. _But ten minutes later, Rowan laid his head on top of his arms and slept. _Resting my eyes can't hurt…_

~*~*~

            "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! They're actually letting me graduate early?" Mia exclaimed as she threw her arms around her grandfather.

            Her grandfather shook his head. "No, they're giving you a chance to. If you can pass four entrance exams into the college, then the Hana High will let you pass. However, you have to get past a 95 on all of them."

            "When is the testing scheduled?" Mia asked as she sat down on a couch, wrapping her long legs under her.

            "The way they're going to do it is that each test will be on one day of the week. On each of the test, they give you a maximum of three hours but a minimum of 1 and a half hour so if you finish early, you have to stay until that one and a half hour is up. Tuesday is your Math exam, Wednesday is your English, Thursday will be your History exam, and Friday will be your Science exam. Now, these tests are extremely hard and I have no doubt that they'll be much harder since every year, they change it. It's during the last week of June, right before summer vacation." Grandfather Koji explained as he seated himself in a nearby recliner.

            "Wow…I don't have much time do I?" Said Mia as she pulled her long hair in a ponytail.

            "Considering you need to recall 12 years of studying for four subjects, I would say so…don't forget, this isn't your normal entrance exam so no doubt they'll throw in a few college-level questions,"

            "So I should study more?"

            "Just for caution, my dear,"

            Mia laughed. "I'll study as much as they want me to! Wow…I'm going to be able to graduate a year early…" She threw her arms in the air. "Yay!"

            Grandfather Koji chuckled as he watched his usually composed granddaughter dance around the room.

~*~*~

            Rowan cleared his throat for the third time that day. _Of all the time to catch a cold…I get one right before midterms. GREAT. Ugh…when did I become such a complaining brat…_He turned away and coughed into the palm of his hand; his body shook in rhythm with it.

            "God you sound horrible," a familiar voice spook from his side.

            Rowan grimaced inwardly and turned around to face his confronter. "Just a little cold," he rasped out. Clearing his throat, he massaged a tender part of his throat with his hand. "What do you need Lindsay,"

            Her jaw dropped. "Rowan, do I need an excuse to see you?" Her voice sounding hurt.

            Rowan looked apologetically at her. "Sorry Lindsay, I guess I'm getting irritated at my cold,"

            She grinned. "Apology accepted…and you're right, it's only a little cold, why don't you come and get a drink with me? I'm sure it'll help your throat!" Lindsay bubbled enthusiastically.

            Rowan shook his head. "No, I feel horrible, I need to sleep this out…besides, I have to study tonight,"

            Lindsay grabbed his arm. "Rowan, come on, my treat! And I'm not going to leave you alone till you say yes,"

            Rowan knew she was serious when she had said she wouldn't leave him alone. "Alright, one drink, and then I'm going home,"

            "Great! It's a _date!_" Lindsay chirped out grinning.

            Rowan winced at the word.

~*~*~

            "And so I told her, if she talked that way to me again, I would slap her so hard, her jaw would pop…I swear, she has no sense of manners at all! She had to get into my business…and I wouldn't have pushed the books off Jamie's table if he hadn't been…"

            Rowan had stopped listening a long time ago. His head was pounding, his throat throbbed, and he couldn't drink anything without pain in his throat. 

            "Rowan! You aren't listening to me!" Lindsay whined.

            Rowan smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Lindsay, but I have a really bad headache…Thanks for the drink," he said and motioned to his almost-full glass.

            "But you hardly had any," said Lindsay as she stood up with him.

            "My throat hurts and I wasn't able to drink much so I apologize," he grimaced as he started coughing again.

            "That's okay, some other time then?" Lindsay asked grinning.

            Rowan knew she thought he would say yes. He stretched his lips into as much of a smile as he could, "I'll think about it," He shrugged on his jacket and before he could button it up, Lindsay grabbed his arm.

            "Hey, I'll walk you home! Wouldn't want you keeling over," She grinned up at him.

            He shook her arm off gently. "No thanks, I'm not _that_ sick." Walking out the diner door, he waved. "Ja,"

            Lindsay grinned. _Perfect._

~*~*~

            Rowan felt his legs grow heavier and heavier before he sat down on the bench near the bus stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a familiar brown head ducking from view. _What is she following me for? Is she obsessed or something? _He felt himself growing irritated at the smallest things as he waited for the bus. Rubbing his temples, he grimaced as his head started to throb harder and harder. He quickly got up to shake off the sleep that was invading his body. "Oh god…" He groaned before sitting back down. Getting up made him even more dizzy and fatigued.

            "Rowan?" A soft voice spoke in his ear.

            "Huh?" He slowly lifted his face up to glance at the owner of the soft voice. "Oh…" He didn't know if it was his sickness or what…but he felt his cheeks burning. "Mia…?"

            Her face broke out into a grin. "Oh, you remember me…"

            He nodded smiling and patted the empty seat next to him. 

            She sat down frowning as soon as she got a closer look at him. Taking her gloves off, she felt his cheeks and forehead. "Oh my goodness, you're burning up,"

            Rowan didn't reply. He was savoring the velvety-soft and cool feeling of Mia's palm. _That feels so good…no, no…don't take it away…_

            Mia took her hands away and gathered up her gloves. "Rowan, I'm giving you a ride home…I don't want you out in this weather waiting for that stupid bus, come on,"

            "Okay," he meekly agreed, getting up as she put her arms around his waist. He couldn't miss how her body molded his tall frame so perfectly. A sweet scent floated into his nose; he breathed deeply. Her hair…it was the scent of peaches. _So sweet…_ "Mia…"

            "Hmm?" She murmured as she helped him to her red jeep.

            "Nothing," He spoke quietly as she helped him into the jeep. As she pulled away, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, snuggling until he fell asleep…but that would be embarrassing. _Oh God…help me. I like Sai's girlfriend…a **lot**._ Groaning more from the thought then his throbbing head…he closed his eyes.

            "Oh Rowan, hold on, I'll get you home in less then a minute," She murmured softly as she helped him with the seat belt, and then closed the door. Quickly running to the other side of the jeep, she jumped in and started the car. Turning the heat to full blast, she looked over at the flushed boy. "Rowan?" She murmured softly. "Rowan?" She murmured again. Peering at his face, she noticed that he had fallen asleep. _Great. I don't even know where his house is…_ Driving out of the parked space, she smiled as an idea hit her. _I'm sure grandfather won't mind…_

~*~*~

            "Weird…" Sage murmured as he put his phone down.

            "Who was that?" His sister called from up the stairs.

            "Ro's mom," came the reply.

            "Did Rei-san want something?" His mother asked, coming out of the kitchen.

            Sage rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. "Yeah, she was wondering where Rowan was…apparently, he hasn't been home since three…which was…" Taking a check at his watch, his eyes narrowed. "Eight hours ago,"

            "Oh dear…has she contacted the police?" She asked.

            Sage shook his head. "No, you can't file a missing person report until twenty-four hours has passed…"

            "Well that's a stupid law if you ask me…" His mother grumbled as she reached for the phone. Handing it to Sage, she sternly said, "Call everyone and see if they've heard about Rowan,"

            Sage nodded. "Alright,"

  
~*~*~

            "Moshi moshi," 

            "Moshi moshi, this is the Mouri residence, who am I speaking to?"

            "Sage, um, is Sai home?"

            "Oh hello Sage! How are you doing? And no, Sai isn't home…he got a call from Mia…is there a message I can take down for him?"

            "Well, we were just wondering if he saw Rowan anywhere after school and I'm doing fine thank you,"

            "Alright, I'll relay the message to him…Tell your mom I said hi!" 

            "Okay, thank you Mrs. Mouri,"

            "Anything Sage-chan,"

~*~*~

            "Moshi moshi?"

            "Hey Sai, it's your mom here, Sage just called…he was wondering if you'd seen Rowan?"

            "Yeah, he's over here now,"

            "Alright, you better call Sage back, he sounded really worried."

            "Yeah mom, thanks for telling me! Love you!"

            "Don't stay out too late at your cousin's house you hear?"

            "Yeah mom, promise! Ja!"

            "Ja!"

~*~*~

            Sage stared at the phone, waiting patiently. Someone **had** to have seen Rowan…the boy couldn't have just disappeared off the face of the planet could he? No…So the staring contest went on. Suddenly, the phone rang and he lunged at him. "Date residence, may I ask who I am speaking to?"

            "Hey man, it's Sage, you called about Rowan?"

            "Yeah, have you seen him?"

            "Yep, and don't worry, he's fine, Mia took good care of him…and you don't have to worry about calling Mrs. Hashiba, I already called her,"

            Sage sighed in relief but then curiosity kicked in. "Wait…why is he at--,"

            "Hey Sage, I've gotta go, Rowan woke up, see ya!"

            "Wait--,"

            "Ja!"

            Sage stared at the phone receiver in his hand. _Rowan at Sai's girlfriend's house…Rowan waking up? What in blazes is going on?_

~*~*~

            Rowan didn't feel the throbbing feeling in his head anymore. His body and throat, did, however, feel much better. Wearily opening his eyes, a faint light from the lamp shone through. He felt silky comforters covering his body and the scent of peaches invaded his nose again. "Peaches…"

            "Oh I'm sorry, does the scent bother you?" Came a voice from behind him. 

            Turning his head, he focused his eyes on a blurry figure until it became clear. "Mia?"

            She smiled and handed him a glass of water. "Hey, welcome back, how was your nap?"

            He sat up slowly and took the water, gulping the contents down. "That was refreshing," He smiled at her. 

            She took the glass and set it on the night table sitting down at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

            "Good…where am I?" He said as he finally realized his surroundings.

            She blushed.

            "You're in Mia's room, Ro," Came a familiar voice from the door. 

            _Sai? Mia's room? Oh my damn…_ Rowan started blushing furiously.

            Sai chuckled as he came around and stood by Mia. "Yeah, Mia's room…don't let it get you all flustered now,"

            Rowan coughed and cleared his voice. "Um…I'm sorry to have intruded,"

            "Intruded? No, I wanted to put you in one of the other rooms but the other rooms hadn't been used for so long that they would've been coated in dust. Grandfather's room has a lot of incense, and the smell may have bothered you…but I guess my room probably wasn't such a great idea because I coat this room's scent in peach body spray," She chuckled.

            Shaking his head, he replied, "No, it doesn't bother me, in fact, it's very refreshing,"

            "Oh thank you!" She said blushing happily.

            Sai looked at Rowan's face…who was trained on Mia's face at the moment. Mia, had been looking over at Sai. 

            "Sai, his parents were alerted right?"

            He nodded. "Yup, Mrs. Hashiba was a rather worried but I promised to bring Rowan home as soon as he woke up,"

            "Alright, Rowan you up for a car ride then?" Mia asked as she walked over to the nearest light switch, flicking it on.

            He nodded. "Yeah,"

            "Then you better take him home Sai…I'm sure his mom is wondering what he's doing at an unfamiliar girl's house this late at night," She laughed.

            Sai chuckled. "Mia!" He gasped mockingly.

            "Oh hush," she slapped him softly.

            Rowan watched the adoring exchanges and looked away. _Just my luck…I like a girl and she likes my friend. Yeah, life is really fair…_

~*~*~

            "Hey man, you gonna be okay?" Sai asked as Rowan got out of the car.

            Rowan wanted to yell at him, shout, whatever as long as he ranted out his frustrations. He couldn't though…he had no reason to. "Yeah man, I'm going to be fine…see ya tomorrow if I come to school,"

            "Later!" Sai replied before driving off.

~*~*~

            After medicine and a hot dinner, Rowan laid in his bed. Closing his eyes, he remembered the sweet scent of peaches and her laugh. "Dammit," he swore into his covers as he pulled them up around his shoulders. He would think about this tomorrow…for now, he needed his sleep.

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Kento: Rowan finally came back to school after being absent for two days and Sage had told us that Rowan had spent most of the night at Mia's house. Isn't she Sai's girlfriend?

Rowan: Look, that was never official okay? He could be her cousin…I heard him mentioning a cousin at one point or another…

Ryo: Wait…are you defending her? Do you actually like this chick?

Rowan: Am not! I'm just looking at all the possibilities!

Ryo: Soooo…how did it FEEL to sleep in her bed eh? ::wiggling eyebrows::

Rowan: ::slams elbow down on Ryo's head::

Sai: Next on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 6: Sage's Curiosity (That Killed The Cat)

Sage: I'm going to get to the bottom of this. What is it about that girl?

Well, that's this chapter! I didn't proofread it because I'm on a schedule but if anyone wants to…go ahead and be my guest. I hope you enjoyed this…see ya in the next chapter! Ja!

~Angel

Oh yeah…I got a domain name but not all the pages are up yet…however, if you want to see what I have so far, check it out at:

http://www.animequeens.com/

Ja!


	7. Chapter 6: Sage's Curiosity (That Killed...

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 6: Sage's Curiosity (That Killed The Cat)

By ~*Angel*~

Heyas all! I'm back! Well, not much has gone on for me…except that it's the first day of Spring Vacation for me. ^_^ Woozahs. So I'm rather happy at the moment…I'm not bored because I've got so much stuff to do over this break…heck, I have this break to make $1,000 for all the school trips and whatnot that I'm going on after Spring Break. I still owe my church $75…oi. Anybody wanna donate? ^_^;; Okay okay! Just kidding! Lol…well, I better let you go and read the fic. See ya at the end!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors.

            Sage bounced his tennis ball up and down on his racket while his eyes were trained on Rowan and Lindsay. Lindsay seemed rather giddy whilst Rowan seemed as if he was on another planet or something. Sage's partner, Naoko had been absent so Sage practiced against a wall but that got boring fast and besides, his mind wasn't on the game at all. _I've been friend's with Rowan my whole life and he won't even tell me what happened or what's wrong with him…everytime we bring up Mia, he blushes almost as if he's…_

"Sage!" A girl chirped from beside him. 

            Sage turned his face up towards the tall brunette standing next to him. "Oh hey Mara,"

            "Hello! Wow, isn't it weird how both of our partners are out sick today?" Mara commented seating herself next to Sage.

            "Yeah," Sage replied absentminded.

            "I don't have a partner and I can see that you obviously don't have one either so, how about being my partner for today?" Mara asked as she flicked a fake piece of link off of her shirt.

            Sage shrugged. "I guess,"

            "Great!"

            _Maybe it'll help me take my mind off of Ro for a while._

~*~*~*~

            "Hello, welcome back Miss Koji, we just got a new shipment of Regency romance books, would you like to see them?" Asked the kindly old man standing before her.

            She nodded. "Oh of course!"

            He chuckled. "Right this way,"

            Mia followed the short little man to the back of the store as her eyes wandered around at all the new books. Mr. Tsubasa was a kind old man who had just opened a new bookstore for he believed that there was a shortage of bookstores in the neighborhood. She couldn't help but agree. She knew that he had spent all of his life savings and it was well spent for she could tell with it's homey decorations and the organized shelves, this store would be filled with people in no time. "You must think me silly for reading all these romance books,"

            "Not really, I think the kind of books you chose are tasteful unlike those books where all they do is--," Mr. Tsubasa was cut off when the door open and the bells rang indicating that there was a new customer. Clearing his throat, he motioned towards the shelves in from of him. "Here are your books, I ordered them especially for you, I hope you like what you see,"

            "Thank you Mr. Tsubasa," Mia smiled warmly as the short man walked away towards the front. Finally, she turned her head towards the tall shelves holding dozens of shiny new books. She could hardly keep from squealing. Starting at the bottom, she grabbed every different book and stuck it in her hands. She didn't bother reading the back of the books because from her experience, the Regency books were always good no matter what. _Though there was that one book…_Gradually, she had to stand on the tip of her toes to grab the ones on the top shelves. Setting down the books, she almost tried climbing the shelves but decided that she could break the shelves and ruin the display. Tilting her head so that her arm could get better access, her fingers flittered across the side of the books before she was able to grip one and hold on. 

            "Here, let me get that for you," A deep rich voice floated through the air as Mia caught a whiff of his soft woodsy cologne and felt his body press to the side of hers pushing her out of the way. She blushed as she inched away towards her stack of already-collected books laying on the ground in an organized stack. She glanced at the side of his face and saw that a part of his hair was obscuring one eye. "Thank you," She bowed slightly as he handed her the book.

            "Need anymore help?" He asked.

            Bringing her head back up, she took a step back. The icy-blue eyes seemed to chill her to the bone but warm her at the same time. "I think I can get the rest,"

            "Nonsense, here, what do you need?" He asked turning back to the shelf.

            "Um…" Mia listed off the books she needed from that shelf her blush progressed with each listing.

            "There, I believe that's the last of them," He said as he handed a handful of books to her. 

            Mia nodded and went to grab the books but jerked her hands back at the same time he did when a bolt of static jumped from her hand to his, or from his to hers. Either way, it stung. "Sorry," She muttered as she held her hand in her palm. 

            He shrugged and looked at the growing piles of books at her feet. "That's quite a collection of books you have there," He commented his eyes flickering back to her face.

            Mia nodded and blushed brighter as she reached out for the books. Tugging on them, she replied, "Yes, I like to read,"

            "Ahhh," The man simply said as he tugged the books back and turned it around to read the back.

            "Can I have that?" Mia asked quietly.

            Holding it above her head, he turned his icy-blue eyes back on her face. "You know you're going to rot your brains on these…that is, if you had one to start with,"

            Burning bright red now but in anger, Mia, snatched the book out of his grasp and turned around to gather all the books in her arm. "You are an odious man, why should you care if I had a brain or not to rot on these books. It is my preference to read these and it is not your place to criticize me." Turning around, she glared at him in the face motioning to the other books he had in his hands.

            "Of course it is, if you can call me odious, then I can call you brainless. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Sage smirked as he deliberately held the books away from her prying hands.

            "Only because you had started it, do you usually go around calling girls brainless?" She demanded as she grabbed for the books.

            Yanking it out of her reach again he shrugged. "I only state the truth,"

            Mia's face turned pale. Her lips pressed in a thin line, she spun on the heel of her shoe. _Arrogant clod. He doesn't even know me! _"Then I suggest you leave me alone."

            Sage grimaced as he watched the girl pay for her books and then glanced down at the three books in his hands. _I don't know what came over me…_ "Damn," He cursed as he raced out the door.

            "Mr. Date, you need to pay for those," Mr. Tsubasa shouted.

            Sage stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around throwing a few bills at him. "Keep the change,"

            "I do not accept charity,"

            "It isn't charity, I'm just in a hurry,"

            "Wait, this won't take long," Mr. Tsubasa said as he quickly handed Sage a few bills and coins. "Here, have a nice day,"

            "Yeah you too," Sage quickly rushed out of the door and scanned the busy crowd. The familiar reddish-brown head of the girl was nowhere to be seen. Sage narrowed his eyes in disgust at himself. Taking a look down at his arms, he realized he had just spent a good amount of money on the books. He knew what he had to do, he just didn't know how to do it.

~*~*~*~

            Mia yanked her jeep door open as she flung the bags of books in the back of the vehicle. "What an arrogant, odious, egotistical, bigheaded, supercilious man!" She growled as she jabbed the keys into the hole and started up the car. Taking a few deep breaths, she quickly calmed herself. "It's alright, it's not as if I'm ever going to meet him again," _THANK THE POWERS THAT BE. _"He seems familiar…I wonder where I've met him," Glancing into the rearview mirror, she quickly drove out of the parking lot and towards home.

~*~*~*~

            "Sage! I never knew he read these kinds of books!" His sister giggled as she started into her brother's blushing face. "Do you have anything to tell your big sis? Come on…you know you want to,"

            "Stop it Yayoi," Sage blushed as he grabbed the books back from her. "It's for a girl I met,"

            She gasped. "Sage, you have a girlfriend? Hey Maaa!! Sage has a girlfriend!" Her voice echoing throughout the household.

            "Ni-chan?" Satsuki, his little sister asked. "Ni-chan has a girlfriend?"

            "Hai!!" Yayoi said grinning as she held up three romance books. "And LOOK at what he bought her!"

            "WOOF!! WOOF!!" Sean came romping through the door and jumped onto Sage's bed. Up from behind him, came his mother with a spatula in her hand.

            "Off the bed Sean, now!" She ordered the bundle of fur.

            Jumping of the bed, Sean quickly walked over to Sage. 

            Sage was busy trying to get the books away from Yayoi. "Maaa! Tell her to give the books back to me!" He blushed bright red as Yayoi yanked the book out of his reach.

            "Romance books? You bought her romance books?" Yayoi started laughing. "This is even more serious then I thought!"

            "I DON'T HAVE a girlfriend!" He stated as he reached for the books again.

            Mrs. Date quickly snatched the books out of Yayoi's hands and glanced at them. "My Sage…If these aren't for your girlfriend, then who are they for?"

            "I don't have a girlfriend and the books are for a girl I met,"

            Satsuki pulled on his pants. "But doesn't buying something make her your girlfriend? Do you like her?"

            "No…She forgot to get them and I tried catching her so in order to catch up with her I had to pay for the books, Ma, can you give them back to me?"

            Yayoi collapsed to the ground laughing.

            "Oh would you be quiet!" Sage snapped as his mother handed him the three books. Turning back to her he bowed and blushed as he realized the look she had in her eyes. "Ma…?"

            "So, when do we get to meet this girl?" She questioned a moment later. "I have such a great dinner in plan for this!" She grinned happily.

            Sage could almost see the arrows, the hearts, and the cupids popping around his mother. "Why? She's NOT my girlfriend," he grumbled.

            "Sage has a girlfriend!"

            "Ma! Tell her to be quiet!"

            "Yayoi, stop teasing your brother,"

            Yayoi just kept on laughing.

            "Ni-chan! That means I get a new sister!"

            "ARGH!" Sage growled in frustration.

            "WOOF!"

            "Down Sean! Down!"

~*~*~*~

            "Mia did something happen?" Sai asked.

            "NO," She emphasized the word.

            Sai blinked at the outburst. "Okay," He said softly as a sweatdrop rolled down his head.

            Mia smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you…don't worry about me, it's nothing big."

            "If you say so,"

            "So what's up with you? Anything special happen in school today?" Mia asked as she sipped her drink.

            Sai sighed. "There's this girl named Miko at school…I dunno, she's a nice one but she's rather odd…"

            "Odd?" Mia grinned. "It doesn't seem like you would be the kind of guy to judge because a girl is unique,"

            Sai forced a chuckle. "I know I know…" Turning serious, he looked out the window. "I hope that I don't sound egotistical when I say that I think she's obsessed with me."

            Mia cocked her head to one side. "How so?"

            "I dunno…can we forget I ever brought this subject up?" Sai asked as he looked down at his drink.

            "Sure,"

            "Hey Sai! Hey--," A familiar voice called out.

            "Hey Sage!" A grin brightening Sai's features.

            A shadow crossed over Mia's eyes as she stood up. "Please forgive me Sai, I have some business to attend to,"

            "Oh…okay," Sai responded, disappointed.

            "Wai-," Sage began as the girl walked past him. _Think! Quick! Think! _His brain was frozen as he watched the girl walk straight out of the restaurant.

            "Hey buddy…you okay?" Sai asked snapping Sage out of his reverie.

            "Yeah…Er…so wassup?" Sage asked as he took Mia's spot and ordered a drink.

            Sai shrugged. "Nothing much, mid-terms are bugging me though,"

            Sage nodded thanks to the waiter and took a long sip. "Yeah, they're really harsh this year. The English department never gives mid-terms…I don't know why they're doing it this year,"

            "Ugh, two essays. That's crazy. Those essays should be saved for the finals or something," Sai grimaced wiping his mouth.

            Sage nodded. _Mia must've not told him yet…And it wouldn't do well if I told him I upset his girlfriend…_

            "Sage man, you okay? You like zoned out for a few moments there," Sai commented.

            Sage nodded. "Sorry, a lot's on my mind,"

            Sai nodded in agreement.

~*~*~*~

            "Sage! Take Sean out for a walk! That poor dog has been cooped up in this house the whole day!" Mrs. Date called right when Sage came through the door.

            "Okay Ma," Sage replied as he grabbed the leash off a hook and called for the dog. "Sean! Walk!"

            "WOOF! WOOF!" 

            Sage steeled himself as the dog threw himself against Sage covering him in wet kisses. "Down boy," Sage grinned affectionately as he rubbed the top of Sean's head.

            "RUFF!!"

            "Come on boy, let's go so we'll be back in time for dinner,"

~*~*~*~

            Sage sighed as his thoughts went over the weird way Rowan was acting and the fact that he had just hurt a girl for no reason at all. Closing his eyes he inhaled. "Darn it," What had gotten over him? The girl was strange for sure…if he could only put his han-

            "Sean? Sean?" Sage's eyes widened as he realized he was holding an empty leash. "SEAN?!!"

~*~*~*~

            "STUPID ARROGANT MAN!" Mia pounded the ball against the wall with each syllable. Stopping to catch a breath, she bounced the yellow ball against her racket. "Why am I even wasting my time over him. And of all things, he had the NERVE to call me dumb! ARGH! I'll show him dumb that…" A string of curses flowed out of her mouth as she started pounding the ball vehemently against the wall.

            "WOOF! WOOF!"

            "Egad!" Was the only thing Mia got out of her mouth before a large ball of fur jumped on her and ran away with her racket in it's mouth. Blinking as she laid on the floor, she jumped out. "That was my favorite racket!" She growled as she grabbed her stuff, running after the ball of fur. Adrenaline pumping through her blood, she increased her speed. _At least all this running is helping me work out my stress. _"Give that back you stupid do-OOOF!!!" She crashed into someone and went sprawling on the dirt trail. 

            "Argh!" The guy muttered as he hit the ground on his rear. "Damn!"

            "I'm sorry," Both said at the same time as they got up.

            "You!" Mia exclaimed as her face turned bright red when she got a glance of who it was. Spinning on her heel like she had done in the book store, she winced when a pain shot up her leg. Then she started limping towards the direction of where the dog had gone.

            "Hey wait up," He called out.

            Mia stopped and turned around looking directly into his eyes. They didn't scare her as much anymore. "You will forgive me when I tell you that I don't believe in talking to people like you,"

            "Will you just hold on a minute?" He asked exasperated.

            "Why should I?" She questioned turning around.

            "Because I wanted to ask for your forgiveness,"

            Mia turned back around staring at his standing form. "Well?"

            "Will you please forgive me?" He asked looking straight into her eyes.

            "Forgiven, now please leave me alone, I would like to get my racket back from that bouncing ball of fur," She turned around again on her good foot and started limping again.

            "Oh you're hurt, let me help you," He said as he quickly went over to her and grabbed her arm.

            Looking at his hand on her arm, Mia softly removed it from his grasp. "I'm fine, thank you,"

            "Do you have to be like that?"

            "Forgive me for acting such but my first impression of you is rather poor,"

            "Can I change that then?" He softly asked.

            Mia felt as if her heart skipped a beat when the guy asked her. "I guess," She said suspiciously. "What's your name?"

            "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot, we were never introduced, I'm Sage Date," He said smiling slightly as he held out his hand.

            Mia nodded and took it. "I'm Mia Koji,"

            "Nice to meet you,"

            "A pleasure I'm sure," 

            "Now about that dog…" Sage began.

            "You know that ball of fluff?" Mia asked as they walked side by side, her, limping.

            "Yes, his name is Sean, he's a dear if you get to know him, a bit mischievous at times," Sage said as he rolled the leash up into his hand.

            "Smart dog if he was able to get out of his leash,"

            "Very smart indeed…In fact, he's probably ran back home,"

            "Am I suppose to go there with you then?" Mia asked.

            "Of course, if you are to get your racket back that is," Sage said.

            "I guess I'll take that as an invitation,"

            Sage nodded. "Good…so, how am I doing so far?"

            "Not bad," She smiled. 

~*~*~*~

            Sage held the door open and allowed her to go through first. He watched concerned as Mia limped her way in. "We should get my mom to look at your ankle,"

            "I'm fine, just a little twist," She said as she stood aside waiting for him to come in. She felt a bit strange being in a stranger's house. "Heh, here I am in your home and I barely even know you,"

            "Strangers?" Sage chuckled. "I wouldn't say that,"

            "MAAAAAA!! Sage is home!" Yayoi shouted at the top of her lungs as she descended from the stairs. Arching her eyebrow as she caught site of Mia, she shouted again. "AND HE'S GOT COMPANY!"

            Coming out from the kitchen, Mrs. Date's features brightened quite a lot when she caught site of Mia. She **loved** play matchmaker. Looking at Mia from head to toe, she held out a hand. "Why hello!"

            "Hello," Mia said cordially as she took her hand and shook it. "I'm Mia Koji,"

            "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Mrs. Date said grinning as she took Mia's arm. 

            _Finally? _She arched an eyebrow looking up at Sage's face. It was serene, emotionless but a flush of color tinted his peach skin. "Thank you," She replied as she allowed herself to be ushered through the kitchen.

            "Satsuki, make one more room at the table," Mrs. Date said to the little girl before her standing in the kitchen with a raggedy doll in one hand. 

            "Hai mama! Oh, is that Sage's g-," Satsuki was cut off as Sage quickly covered her mouth tickling her. 

            "Sage stop that…really, we have a guest today,"

            "Oh no ma'am, I just came to get my racket…" Mia said timidly.

            "Racket? Now is that what Sean stole?" Mrs. Date giggled. "Well, now you HAVE to stay because our dog was a nuisance to you…it's the least we can do,"

            Mia blushed. "Really, I should be going home, Grandfather will be worried,"

            "Oh then just call him! It'll be nice to have a fresh face at the table!" Mrs. Date persuaded.

            "You can't win an argument with her you know," Sage said from his place near Satsuki.

            Mia nodded. "Alright, if it is of no bother to you guys that is,"

            "OF COURSE NOT!" Yayoi said grinning from ear to ear as she slapped Sage's back.      
            "Yayoi…where'd you come from?" Sage's eye contradicted to lines and dots. (AN: Like this. ¬_¬)

            "Really Sage, Yayoi, I want you guys to be on your best behavior,"

            "Hai Ma," Both chorused in unison.

~*~*~*~

            "She's a nice girl Sage," Mrs. Date said as she carefully lifted a pan out of the oven.

            "Mom…I know what you're thinking and it isn't that," Sage said as he spooned large amounts of rice into a large porcelain bowl.

            "Now what would you know I'm thinking of? I didn't give birth to a mind-reader," She said grinning as she kissed his cheek. "Now go in there and talk to her, I want her to be very welcome! My, it's been a long time since I entertained,"

            "Moooom…" Sage groaned as he was pushed out of the kitchen.

~*~*~*~

            Mia was sitting awkwardly as the two girls sitting cross from her stared at her. "Um…"

            "Here's the rice!" Came a voice.

            Yayoi jumped. "Jeez Sage, you sure are chirpy,"

            Sage narrowed his eyes as he took his seat next to Mia, "And what's that suppose to mean?"

            Mia got up. "You know…I'm gonna help your mom with dinner," She quickly went into the kitchen.

            "Oh nothing, just that you are never this chirpy," She shrugged as she spooned a generous amount of rice onto her plate.

            "Yayoi…" Sage said in a warning tone.

            "Oh geez Sage, lighten up will you?" Yayoi chided as Miss Hana followed by Mia and Mrs Date came in with plates of food in their arms. "Yay! I was getting rather hungry,"

            "It does smell delicious," Mia said as she sat down.

            "Well children, eat up!" Mrs. Date said as her and Miss Hana sat down.

~*~*~*~

            "Hey Mia, will you come up to my room afterwards? I have some stuff to give you," Sage said as he gave her another dish to dry. 

            "Gifts?" She grinned. "You are really generous,"

            "It's nothing," He said turning his face away from her as he concentrated on his dishes.

            Yayoi sat at the table watching and tapping her fingers.

            "Yayoi, don't you have something better to do?" Sage everything but snapped at her.

            "Cra-abby," Yayoi muttered. "And no, I'm not doing anything to you am I?"

            Sage turned around. _Then STOP staring at me! She is NOT my girlfriend! She's Sai's! Sai's! Sai's!_

"Well, that's the last of them!" Mia said grinning as she folded the dish towel up and set it on the counter. Looking at her watch she frowned. "Oh my, I didn't realize it was so late,"

            Sage dried his hand quickly on the towels and rolled down his sleeves. "My room's upstairs,"

            Mia nodded as she followed.

            Yayoi watched this all with an interested eye. 

~*~*~*~

            "Here," Sage said as he handed her the bag of books.

            "Oh…" Mia looked down at them and smiled up at him. "Thank you," She said as she pecked his cheek.

            Sage blushed and for one was glad his room was dark. "You're welcome," He responded.

            A horn honked from below.

            "Mia! Your grandfather's here!" Mrs. Date shouted from below.

            "I would give you back the racket but it seems Sean chewed it up beyond recognition," Sage said as he smiled apologetically.

            "It's alright," She grinned. "Don't worry about it, my granfather and I are tennis buffs, I'm sure we have another one sitting around, anyways, thank you for these books, I owe you," She quickly went down the stairs and out the door, stopping only to wave goodbye. "Thank you," She mouthed to him before hugging his mom and shaking Yayoi's hand and rubbing Satsuki's head.

            "You're welcome,"

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Ryo: Man I can sure use a vacation…

Kento: NO! I have to pass these or I'm going to fail!

Sai: Don't worry Kento, I'll help you.

Ryo: So…has anyone else noticed that Rowan and Sage both have been acting weird?

Sai: Yeah, for some reason, I think he's avoiding me…

Ryo: Hmmm…

Kento: Oh yeah, I just remembered, Sai, when are you ever going to tell us the details about you and Mia? I think I've been patient enough! I deserve to know why my best friend hasn't told me about his girlfriend!

Sai: WHAAAAAAT?!!!

Mia: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 7: The Truth…Finally.

Sage and Rowan: It's unbelievable!

Sai: BELIEVE IT! _

^_^ I hope you guys enjoyed this, a lot of things will be answered in the next chapter…I don't usually read over my work so if you guys spot something out of place, just tell me and I'll fix it right away. Ja!

~Angel


	8. Chapter 7: The Truth...Finally

Ronin Warriors 

The Ugly Duckling ~ Chapter 7: The Truth…Finally

By .:‡:. Kakeumei Tenshi .:‡:.

Heyas all! By now, you probably all know that I've changed my darned name…heh, Angel was way too general so I figured to change it to "Kakeumei Tenshi" which stands for "Revolutionary Angel". I guess the correct form with be "Tenshi no Kakeumei" but I figured I should go by "Kakeumei Tenshi" for now. I still go by "Angel" because I've gotten use to that name after all the years that I've been writing fanfic so you can still call me Angel. ^_^ Anyways, I figured I should start working on my fanfics and my website again…I should probably go before I write more pre-hand notes instead of the fanfic itself! Ja ne minna!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Warriors, they belong to CN and their associates. 

            "_Tale…as old as time…_

_            Song as old as rhyme…_

_            Beauty and the Beast…_"

            "Oh my goodness, I loved that!" Mia exclaimed happily as she all but skipped out of the theater with Sai trailing not far behind.

            Sai chuckled. "How many times have you watched this movie? Five…maybe six-hundred times?" He teased lightly as he offered his arm to Mia.

            Mia waved her hand around and then rested it in the crook of his arm. "Pheesh…What an exaggeration. I've watched this movie just a couple of times. Besides, the one we just saw was a new one--,"

            "Not too new, didn't it just have a couple of scenes?" Sai interjected playfully.

            Mia wrinkled her nose up. "Okay, you're right, there was just new scenes added to it, but it was still wonderful wasn't it?"

            Sai nodded. "It was a good movie, I needed a rest from studying for mid-terms anyways."

            Mia breathed in the crisp, fresh air and after exhaling, she turned her face to Sai, "Don't let it stress you out too much, you'll do fine, you always do,"

            Sai laughed as they strolled down the pathway of the park. "That's easy for you to say, I **need** to worry about this sort of stuff…mom has high expectations for us all,"

            "Yeah…," Mia replied softly looking into the distance.

            Sai turned his head to look at his cousin. _Oh man…_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Kento inched closer to the tree so that his bulky form would be obscured from view. His gray eyes followed the familiar couple as both red heads walked slowly down the park. "If Rowan isn't going to tell me anything, then I might as well find out on my own." He muttered to himself as he tiptoed on the grass quickly scurrying to hide behind whatever available covering he could find. _I am the tree…I am the bush…I am the rock…I am the grass—okay wait, that doesn't work. I am the—_

            "Kento, what are you doing?" A familiar voice questioned from behind him.

            "Gah!" Kento yelped as he spun around his hand on his chest. "Baka! You scared the crap out of me!"

            Kayura rolled her eyes as she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Stupid? I'm not the one hiding behind a tree three times smaller then me."

            Kento's eyes contradicted to dots. "That was mean…"

            "It wasn't meant to be mean," She replied as she glanced around his large frame. Looking suspiciously up at him, she asked, "Just whom are you spying on anyways?"

            Kento laughed awkwardly as he stuck a hand behind his head, scratching it. "Heheh…Nobody in particular. Who said I was spying anyways?"

            Kayura arched an eye, which made her glasses slide down her nose again. Agitated, she pushed them back up. "I see…"

            Kento sighed. "Good."

            Kayura rolled her eyes again.

            "You know, if you keep on doing that, they'll roll straight out of your sockets," Kento began.

            Kayura clenched her teeth her complexion turning a slightly pinkish color. "You know, a person loses **brain** cells talking to you!"

            "IF the person **has** brain cells to begin with!" Kento countered.

            "As if YOU would know you…you…you…" Kayura stuttered.

            "What is that you're trying to say??" Kento mocked cupping his ear with his hand.

            "You DENDROPHILIAC!" Kayura shouted, her face turning a bright red.

            Suddenly, all eyes seemed to be on her and Kento.

            Kayura's complexion slowly turned back to its natural porcelain white while Kento's merely arched an eye. "Have a good day Mr. Faun." She concluded turning around to walk away.

            Kento grew agitated as the people around him snickered softly but loud enough so that when combined, it was clearly heard. "YEAH WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT AS SMART AS YOU!" He blurted before even thinking about what he was saying. Afterwards, he proceeded to slam his head against the palm of his hand cursing to himself.

            "You're right, you aren't," Kayura laughed as she walked away.

            After she was out of eye's range, Kento hurried home, forgetting about Sai and Mia, quickly logging onto his home computer, typing in 'dendrophiliac', and reading what the search documents said.            

            "Eeeewwww!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Kayura sighed as the familiar large figure walked towards her with a hostile face. She pushed her glasses up her nose. _I should really get a new prescription. _

            "You know, that dendrophiliac stuff really didn't make sense yesterday!" Kento all but yelled.

            Kayura wiped her nose and pushed her glasses up her nose again only for them to fall down. "Think about it…Trees? You?"

            "That's really nasty! You know, if I am a dendrophiliac, then you're a hemophiliac! HA! Take that!"

            Kayura snorted. "Kento, hemophilia is a type of disease in which your blood vessels don't clot up when they're cut!"

            "Doh!"

            "Two for me, zero for you," Kayura tallied as she walked around Kento.

            "One of these days…I'll be ready for you!" Kento shouted across the hall with vengeance.

            "Can't wait!" Kayura waved without even a backward glance her voice lacking everything but sarcasm.

            Kento did the only thing he thought of at the moment…and that was sticking his tongue out as far as it would let him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Argh!" Kento growled as he slammed his books down on the table with as much force as he could.

            Rowan quickly hurried to steady his tall stack of already-wobbling books. "Kento!" He exclaimed.

            Sai took half of Rowan's books and set it down to begin a second pile. "You okay buddy? You seem a bit agitated,"

            "Agitated is a bit mild, you seem like you outright wanna kill someone, anyone in particular?" Ryo asked as he sat down next to Kento, pulling out a brown paper bag, which held the contents of his lunch.

            "I would **love** to throttle Kayura Shindo's _[AN: I don't know what Kayura's actual last name is so please go with the "Shindo" for now. ^_^;;] _little neck!" His large hands circling Ryo's coke bottle and he squeezed it, displaying his plan.

            "Kayura Shindo? The shy girl, right?" Rowan said as he closed the notebook before him, his hunger having succeeded.

            "Don't you mean nerdy and annoying?" Kento muttered.

            "That's not very nice Kento," Sai frowned.

            "She called me a dendrophiliac! **That** was mean! It was also sick once I found out what it meant!" Kento raged, his color growing.

            Rowan arched his eyebrow as the corners of his mouth twitched.

            "And what in blazes does that mean?" Ryo said, his sandwich halfway on the path to his mouth.

            Kento put his head on his arms. "I forgot,"

            Sai set his drink down. "Well now I'm curious, share,"

            "It means that Kento is aroused by trees." Rowan said, helpfully as he chomped down on his sub.

            The table suddenly got quite as both Sai and Ryo stared at Rowan.

            "Oh damn!"

            "That's disgusting!"

            "I told you it was sick!" Kento said moving his hand towards Ryo's lunch to grab the cookie.

            "Don't touch me man," Ryo said snatching the cookie away.

            Rowan and Sai laughed as Kento and Ryo fought.

            After Kento received his cookie, he happily chewed on the soft morsel. 

            "So what reason did she have, to call you a dendrophiliac?" Questioned Sai.

            Kento shrugged and refused to blush. "Dunno,"

            "Weird,"

            Kento wiped his hands off on his shirt and turned towards Sai. Swallowing quickly, he started to say, "Okay Sai, I think I've waited long enough. Now, you know I'm not a man of patience and I certainly didn't think that you, of all people would keep a secret from your best friends! So spill it, how come you haven't told us about this girlfriend of yours? I want the details! EVERYTHING! Juicy or not, if you have it, I want it!"

            Rowan's face suddenly turned pale as Ryo looked at Sai.

            "Yeah, me too!" He chimed in. _[AN: Yes…That's Ryo 'chiming' in. Back to the story.]_

            "Girlfriend? What girlfriend?" Sai's eyebrows narrowed in confusion.

            Rowan blushed. "Okay guys, look, it's Sai's business, if he doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to tell us,"

            "Tell you what?" Sage asked coming up towards the table.

            "Wait…back up a moment here, _girlfriend?_ What girlfriend?" Sai asked even more confused.

            Sage's eyes flashed as he turned to Sai.

            "Oh stop playing! We know you have a girlfriend…it's that red hair chick remember?" Kento asked gesturing with his hands.

            "Kento, what are you talking about? What red haired _chick_?" Sai asked.

            "Kento, it's better if you drop it," Sage advised.

            "Yeah," Rowan nodded in agreement.

            Kento sighed. "Fine…if you want to play it that way. You know, that girl MIA also known as Meiala! Why haven't you told us you were going out with her? Come on buddy! Give me the details!"

            Sai's face turned bright red in less then half a second. "WHAT?!!!!!! MIA???"

            "Yes, Mia, which other _Mia _would I be talking about?"

            Sai shook his head. "Whoa…you lost me Kento. Are we talking about the same Meiala Koji here?"

            "If that's her last name, sure!"

            Sai turned even redder to the point where he was almost purple. "Kento! That's just sick!"

            Kento snorted. "Well that's not a nice way to talk about your girlfriend…"

            "Drop it Kento," Rowan and Sage warned.

            "Girlfriend?! Mia, my **girlfriend**?!" Sai shouted, breathing heavily.

            "Oh geez Sai, don't get so overworked about it!" Ryo said as he opened his mutilated bottle. "It was just a question about your girlfriend."

            "Girlfriend?!" Sai closed his eyes in frustration, his face still bright red. "What are you bloody talking about?! Mia isn't my girlfriend!"

            Kento's and Ryo's eyes popped out whilst Rowan's and Sage's eyes showed surprised. "She isn't?" The four chorused.

            "NO!! She's my damn cousin!" Sai snarled. "And for your information Kento…I don't DATE _chickens_!"

            "Of course not, that'd be illegal," Kento replied laughing awkwardly as a sweatdrop rolled down his face.

            Rowan and Sage sat down and let out deep breaths.

            "What's up with you two?" Ryo asked.

            "So who is Mia anyways?" Kento asked, his motive undaunted.

            "She's my cousin for goodness sake!" Sai snapped sitting down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Oh geez…Someone bought the last one huh?" Kayura murmured wistfully as she stared at the books before her.

            "Yup, but I will be getting a new shipment of books in tomorrow. Will that work?" Mr. Tsubasa softly spoke.

            "Of course! I'll come over tomorrow then!" Kayura said happily as she walked towards the door. "Thanks Mr. Tsubasa!"

            "Anytime," He called out after her. Five minutes later, the bells jingled as the door opened, again.

            "Oh dear, I almost collided with a person…I wonder if she's alright," Mia muttered loud enough for Mr. Tsubasa to hear.

            "Hello Miss Koji, hey did you know that someone else loves those romance books as much as you do? She was disappointed when I didn't have _Miss Lacey's Last Fling_ in stock however, I told her that the new shipment would be coming in tomorrow. Anyways, I've gone off topic, how may I help you?"

            Mia chuckled softly. "That's great that someone else likes those books…Maybe I've started a trend! But anyways, I was just coming to ask when your next orders were going to arrive and now that I know that, I'll be going…By the way Mr. Tsubasa, grandfather was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with us?"

            "Of course!" Mr. Tsubasa accepted breaking out into a wonderful smile that made Mia's face light up with one also.

            "That's great! Come over tomorrow night at 6:30pm…we're making sushi, fish, rice and some garlic chicken," Mia licked her lips hungrily. "I can almost taste the chicken…yum!"

            Mr. Tsubasa laughed. "Go on child and tell your grandfather I'll be there tomorrow,"

            "Okay, ja Mr. Tsubasa!" Mia grinned as she ran out of the store.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Oh my, grandfather's going to worry if I don't hurry home soon--," Mia stopped talking as soon as she ran into someone and toppled, almost falling straight on her rear if it wasn't for the strong arm that clutched her arm in a gentle but firm grip. "Gomen,"

            "Hi," The deep voice greeted.

            "Oh, hello," Mia blushed as she stared up into the blue eyes. Quickly balancing herself, she murmured a clear "thank you" to Rowan. 

            "It's no problem, are you alright?" He asked as he let go of her arm and started walking side-by-side with her.

            "Thanks to you," She chuckled. "I've been a bit clumsy lately…First, I managed to knock this one guy down and twist my ankle, which is all right for now," She quickly said when he looked at her, worried.

            "I'm glad," He said.

            "Heh…" She blushed. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Sage rounded the corner and felt his breath caught on his lips as he stared at two familiar people walking side-by-side, closer then he would have liked. The girl had a nice tint of pink on her cheeks and the weather was actually a nice one so it had to mean that she was blushing. "Oh…" _Mia and Rowan…What are they doing together? Are they going out? No…That's not possible…is it?_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Next time, on Ronin Warriors…

Ryo: The truth has come out, mid-terms are near, and trouble is brewing in school as Kayura finds herself in a few situations she wish she wasn't in.

Rowan: Sage has been avoiding me too…I wonder what's wrong. He knows he can come talk to me whenever he wants to right?

Kento: I still can't believe she's Sai's cousin…It was fun spying on them two though!

Sai: You were spying on me?!!

Kento: I'm sorry…::sweatdrops:: 

Sai: ::sigh:: S'alright…

Sage: You know…I'm worried, I know Kayura isn't the most popular girls in school but do they have to treat her like that?

Mia: Next time, on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 8: A Friend At Last.

Kayura: JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!

Some notes…the _chicken _comment is a referral to when Kento called Mia a _chick._ Um…I didn't proofread this so yes, this chapter probably sucks…no, it _does_ suck and none of you can persuade me otherwise. Also, you don't have to review if you don't want to, I don't really care either way…well, I do, it's fun to read them but the way I see it is that you're here to read the story, not leave a review so if really, it won't matter much if you leave one or not…^_^ But thank you in advance if you do.

I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out…oh man, I am so tired from school these days. I've been working extra hard because I haven't been on the _high honor roll _in my school for two quarters and I'm rather mad. It was the first time since they **had** high honor roll, that I haven't been on it. After all that hard work for it to go down the drain like that…I'm mad as heck…But that doesn't keep me from writing. You must all be wincing though…^_^;;

Anyways, I'm done talking heh…^_^ I hope you had fun reading. Not sure when the next chapter is going to be out but I'll try to get it done…ja!

~Kakeumei Tenshi aka Angel~


	9. Chapter 8: A Friend At Last

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling ~ Chapter 8: A Friend At Last

By .:†:. Kakeumei Tenshi .:†:.

Hello! I hadn't expected to be back so soon with another chapter but here I am! After finishing the last chapter, I had started writing down this chapter on paper so I could get my thoughts more organized. ^_^ It helped for I think I was able to come up with better description of the setting and what the characters themselves were feeling. I'm going to be busy with a bunch of things…First, I'm going to be working on collecting a bunch of fansubs that haven't been distributed in the United States so that I could start my own fansub business. So far, I've decided to get _Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Oniisama E…(Brother, Dear Brother), Miracle Girls, _and an actual set of _Marmalade Boy _tapes for now. I know there's several more at the back of my mind like _Yawara!_, but I'm afraid a lot of them are going to be unfinished sets.  Enough of my babbling…onwards to the fanfic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors.

            Lifting her finger, Kayura pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose. "Argh! This is about the fifteenth time I've done this! I need new prescription," She fumed, kicking a stray stick on the path. Sighing , she took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. As the wind shifted directions, she shivered a bit. The chill in the wind grew and bit at her as the winds grew stronger. "I should've brought a coat along…" She muttered, her teeth chattering just slightly. Wrapping her arms around her slight frame, she made her way until the desired location appeared in view. Cursing slightly as her teeth chattering became worse, she broke into a full run towards the school. She was getting nearer until suddenly, four tall and hostile figures obscured her view of the school and stopping her in the process.

            "Well hello Kayura, how are you doing today?" Lindsay's silky voice, with a touch of mockery, flowed to Kayura's sensitive (and a wee bit cold) ears.

            Regardless of her shivering frame and chattering teeth, Kayura's eyes flashed as she drew herself to her full height, her face void of any emotions. "Hello, can I help you with something?" She greeted cordially.

            "Of course, people can always help me but you're just so nice, you ask to help, don't you? Well, if that's the case, you can help me by getting on your knees and begging like a dog…" Lindsay laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world. "I'm just kidding! You see, my humor sometimes' gets the better of me,"

            Kayura rolled her eyes and tried to maneuver her way around the group. However, they blocked her progress, sneering. "Please let me through." She cordially asked, anger and agitation in her voice.

            Lindsay's face darkened. "Do you think I'm blind? Did you just roll your eyes at me?" She demanded. "Nevermind that, I **know** you did. Did you know that it's **rude** to do that? We'll just have to teach this bitch a lesson eh girls?" During her little speech, Lindsay had stepped up so that she was face-to-face with Kayura. This technique was made to frighten Kayura and show that Lindsay was in power, however, Kayura was undaunted by it.

            Kayura's nose wrinkled as Lindsay's perfume engulfed her and she tried to keep the remnants of her breakfast **inside** her stomach. The perfume Lindsay was wearing could smell good if the girl hadn't used it in such large amounts. _Maybe it's just my nose…I can't believe guys flock to this girl like bees to honey._ She hadn't spent days training so that her nose would pick up every possible scent imaginable, ONLY to be ruined by some human girl's perfume. Suddenly, without even a warning, Kayura sneezed. Since there was no room to turn or stick her hand up so that she didn't sneeze on anyone, she sprayed Lindsay. Kayura couldn't help but feel bad as she watched the girl jump away screaming and shrinking, her lackies soon following in pursuit.

            "You stupid bitch!" Lindsay swore at Kayura, loudly. It was pure luck that no teacher's were around to hear it for vulgarity was forbidden on school grounds. 

            Kayura had had just about enough. "Look Lindsay, if you didn't wear so much **damn** perfume, or if your ugly face wasn't so near, maybe I wouldn't have spat on you though I only regret that I felt bad when it is clear that you needed to be spat on and brought to your senses!" With that, Kayura drew up the biggest loogie she could find in the back of her throat and huked it at Lindsay. It was disgusting…however, she couldn't help but feel a slight wave of satisfaction. Groans and more shrieking was heard. _This is bound to attract at least some attention._ The loudest shrieking was of course…Lindsay.

            "AUGH!" She shrieked shrilly while her hands went crazy. 

            Kayura couldn't see how that had helped the big roll of spit and mucus rolling down Lindsay's shirt. 

            "You stupid bitch!" Lindsay said, not being able to think of any new insults. 

            "Wow…your creative juices are really flowing today aren't they?" Kayura sneered as she shoved her way past the human wall. "Bye…_bitch_!" She mocked. 

            Unfortunately, a teacher _had_ heard that. "Kayura Shindo!" Mr. Ignacie called angrily. He marched over, his face bright red. "Swearing is NOT permitted on school grounds!"

            Kayura wanted to protest but she decided against it. She was better then those stupid girls. "Yes, Mr. Ignacie," She replied rolling her eyes. She seemed to be doing a lot of eye rolling lately.

            Turning a nice bright shade of red, for he _had_ seen Kayura's rolling eyes, his voice, drenched with anger, he calmly spoke, "Miss Shindo, you will spend the whole day writing 'I will not swear and I will not disrespect my elders when spoke to,' five hundred times! On the chalkboards!"

            Kayura felt a protest rise in her throat but she kept it down. "Mr. Ingnacie, that's insane, you know there's not enough chalkboards to write something that long five hundred times."

            "Your comment is disregarded. I guess you'll have to write small then, won't you?" He all but sneered.

            Kayura narrowed her eyes in stony silence. Off of the side, she could see Lindsay, Naoko, Rika, and Aino sneering, whispering to each other about her, _of course._ She could feel herself growing agitated, more angrier, and frustrated…yet first period had yet to start.

.:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:.

            Mia felt odd returning to her old school. She knew she shouldn't for she had gone to this district for her education for goodness knows how long. _Guess it's only because I haven't been here in such a long time…_ Glancing at her watch, she frowned. She hadn't expected to be here this early but it seemed that she was half an hour too early for picking up Sai. Sai had stayed for a review class and she had offered to pick him up so that she could take him out for a small beverage before she had to go home and eat dinner with Mr. Tsubasa. Finally, she concluded that she would at least walk around the school and decide how much had changed. _I doubt much for I've only been away for a year and a half…_

            Strolling down the empty halls, she sighed as memories of taunts, the teasing, and everything else came back to her. She didn't think she ever had a good memory of the school, which was a shame for this school was rated as one of the best schools. However, the people who came here were obviously quite rich…and obviously quite vain. The taunts and mistreating of the students back then hurt her and it still hurt her. _I won't let it get to me._ She vowed silently. 

            Because of the quiet halls, she had heard the faint sound of chalk hitting a chalkboard and the quite mutterings of a female. Deciding to investigate, she listened even more carefully before she finally found the door to the room where the sound was coming from. Twisting the knob and opening it slowly, Mia poked her head in. "Hello?" She asked.   
            "Oh hi, can I help you?" A girl at the chalkboard cordially asked. Her long blue hair had been piled on top of her head and out of the way. There was no mistaking the coldness from the girl's voice.

            "Hello, I'm sorry, did I bother you?" Mia asked blushing. What made her open the stupid door anyways?

            The girl shook her head. "Not at all, I'm only here as a punishment. It's nice to have a little distraction."

            Mia glanced at the board where it consisted of several rows of 'I will not swear and I will not disrespect my elders when spoken to.' "Eee…I remember these. I accidentally broke a flower pot and the teachers made me write it two hundred times. The only good that came out of it was that I was able to approve my penmanship. Anyways, I've been rude and I've distracted you from your work,"

            Kayura shook her head. "No, not at all, I needed it anyways. By the way, I'm Kayura. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, I fear my manners aren't what they should be," Kayura said as she wiped her hand and held it out to Mia.

            Mia shook it firmly. "That's alright, my manners weren't at its peak either. I'm Mia Koji, I use to come to this school and I figured to take a stroll just to see how much it changed."

            "You use to come to this school? How come you stopped?" Kayura questioned as she picked up the piece of chalk again.

            "My parents were moving because they were transferred, I didn't complain. I didn't like this school very much." Mia walked over and looked at the various pieces of chalk.

            "I understand, regardless of this school's reputation, it has nothing to boast of when you actually come here. Anyways…how come you're in this school right now? Are your parents making you come back?" Kayura asked as she finished a line of her punishment.

            Mia shook her head and quietly answered, "My parents died a few months ago in a freak accident…"

            Kayura stopped writing as she glanced at Mia's pain-filled face. "Oh I'm sorry…I had no business bringing it up."

            Mia looked up with tears in her eyes. "No, it's alright, you had no way of knowing…" Wiping the tears from her eyes, she chuckled. "You must think low of me…breaking down in front of you like this." She took the napkin Kayura offered her.

            "No, not at all," Kayura soothed.

            Clearing her voice, Mia spoke, "I'm here to pick up my cousin, Sai Mouri. He had a review class and I offered to take him out for a drink and ice cream afterwards."

            "Ohhh…I think I know what review. That doesn't end for another fifteen minutes right?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai, in the mean time, would you like some help?"

            "Pride keeps me from accepting but sense pushes me to accept…so sure, if it doesn't bother you," Kayura smiled as she watched Mia take a piece of chalk.

            "Nope!" Mia grinned in reply. 

            In those fifteen minutes, the girls had made plans to hang out with each other the next day.

.:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:.

            "How was review class?" Mia asked as Sai got in.

            "It helped a lot, thanks for picking me up," Sai smiled.

            "No prob, I made a new friend in the process too," Mia grinned happily. She had a reason to because for the first time in years, she had a female confident that she could finally call a friend. Sai would always be her close buddy but sometimes, she needed a girl to confide in.

            "That's wonderful," Sai replied happily.

.:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:.

            Kayura smiled to herself as she slowly walked on the path. Her hands were covered with chalk dust and they were a bit sore. She would've had to stay longer if it hadn't been for Mia's help…Caught up in her thoughts, Kayura didn't notice the shadows lingering in the bushes and trees. Suddenly, a branch came hurtling towards her. Her hand came up and snatched it out of the air, no sooner, she was soon bombarded with stones and sticks of all sorts. Running quickly, she hightailed it out of the forest.

.:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:..:†:.

            Growling, Kayura slammed the door shut as battle armor appeared on her frame, her school uniform disappearing. Her eyes flashed as a large gold necklace appeared around her neck and red eye shadow appeared on her eyelids. Her books disappeared and in her hands, she held a staff. "Anubis!" She hollered as she opened the door to the throne room. "How much longer is the preparation going to take?" 

            Anubis, Seckmet, Cale, and Dais looked up in surprise as they regarded the Queen. 

            Kayura winced as she touched a tender bruise on her face. "These mortals are pathetic. We're doing them a favor if we annihilate them and the sooner, the better!" She snarled. 

            "Well, it's almost finished but we need to make some alterations…Have you found the five armor bearers?" Anubis asked calmly.

            This also calmed Kayura down. "I'm sorry for snapping at you all like that…And no, I haven't found them. I can't sense their power anywhere…"

            "Did something happen?" Dais asked, sensing her agitation.

            "I was attacked by mortals on the way home…I couldn't do anything to protect ourselves or I'd reveal who I really was. They attacked me with stones and sticks while hiding in the bushes. COWARDS." Kayura snarled in distaste.

            "Are you alright?" Sekmet asked. "I have a painkiller in the cabinets,"

            Kayura shook her head, wincing as the throb in her head became greater. "No it's alright, I'll manage."

            "We're sorry for the time it's taking to prepare this…"

            "It's alright, it'll be worth it. I know it will."

Next time on Ronin Warriors…

Kayura: Midterms are rolling close and everyone is on a tight edge. Something has happened and it's just about broke down Mia's reserve. I hope she's alright…

Mia: Really, I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about. But I am worried…I feel as if something's going to happen soon. I know the answer is no…but I wonder, why do I get a feeling that you're mixed up in this somehow, Kayura?

Sai: Mia, you worry so much about others…so I worry about you. Are you sure you're alright? You promise you'll tell me whenever there's something bothering you, right? 

Kayura: _It's almost ready, I can feel the power growing stronger…I think I know why I wasn't able to sense it earlier. The armors can sense when they are needed and because the preparations are almost finished – maybe that's why they've awakened._

Sai: Oh no…it's Grandfather Koji!

Anubis: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 9: It's Been Done.

Mia: GRANDFATHER!

Alright everyone, I'm sorry that was a short chapter. I figured it was good to leave it like that…^_^ I hadn't expected this story to take a turn for the supernatural but I think it can work out like this. I'm already planning out the next chapter but I'll be working on my website so I can get the shrines set up. That's pretty much about it…Thanks everyone!

.:†:. Kakeumei Tenshi .:†:.


	10. Chapter 9: It's Been Done

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 9: It's Been Done

By **~.:†:.~Kakeumei Tenshi~.:†:.~**

Waaaaaa…@_@ I didn't actually think I'd have this chapter started so soon…I didn't think I'd actually have the eighth chapter done so soon either but dang…Maybe I'm a bit restless and that's way. Or…maybe it's because I've finally discovered another way to write fanfiction! ^_^ That, my friends…is to write it down on paper before you type it up! Thus, more ideas will be saved and much easier. Of course, it probably doesn't really help my writing…however, I am at least able to keep most of my ideas without forgetting them…mweheheh…Anyways, I have decided that if I don't see a chapter of Nagia's, Youkai's, and Silent's RW/YST fanfics (_Into The Dark Knight_, _Blood Moon Rising/A Medieval Tale_, and _Angel's Flight_, respectively), I'm gonna…I'm gonna…Well, I'm gonna go get the hot dog that's been sitting in my microwave (for about five minutes since it stopped…microwaving). ^_^;; Yeah.

Disclaimer: If any of y'all so much as touch a cent of ma money, Ima gonna kick all'o'ya arses so far up, you'll all be crappin' outta' yer noses!

**Torch of spirit sought through five**

**Drinking strength from immortal fire**

**Darkest prison sheds the light**

**Swirling beneath a sea of salt**

**Buried within a throne of rock**

**Floating among the eyes of ages**

**Unmored in the stream of the sky…**__

            _He stood as still as the silence prevailing him. When he tried to move, his legs did not listen. That would be a problem for he felt as if a hand was clutching his heart, making him unable to breath and it was getting worse by the moment. Unable to move…he was not dizzy, though. That was the strange thing. The fog surrounding him suddenly disappeared and in its place was a dark cloud. Strange as it was, the color of the cloud was not black. He did not know if it was even a color…for the only way he could describe it was that it was 'nothing'. It was void. Slowly…the cloud moved towards him and his heart struggled to beat even more. Suddenly, it enveloped him in it's billowy form; his heart pumped madly. A pain shot up his left arm and a few seconds later, he clutched his heart, screaming with all his might. Pain. Pain. Pain._

~*~*~*~*~

            Mia shrank away to the corner of the ambulance as three paramedics worked hard on the still body of her grandfather. She did nothing to fight the tears that were cursing down her face. Sobs threatened to wrack her slender frame but she bit her fist. Silently, she cried. "_Grandfather_, please be okay…_please._"

            She watched with observant eyes as one of the paramedics broke away from the other two to grab a needle and a syringe. She choked out a sob. "Is he going to be alright? Please, you have to help him. I can't lose him, I just can't! He means too much too me…" She said continuously.

            The same paramedic who had applied the needle to her grandfather brushed his dark bangs out of the way and looked at her sympathetically. "We will try our hardest miss,"

            One of his partners nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving the patient.

            Mia drew in a ragged breath and pulled back her hair. "Thank you," She replied softly.

~*~*~*~*~

            "And Miss, how old is he?"

            "Around his 70s I imagine."

            "Has he had any heart problems before this?"

            "I wouldn't know…I just came to live with him a month ago because my parents died,"

            "Does he take any medications?"

            "He takes aspirin from time to time,"

            "Does he have osteoporosis, emphysema…any long term illness?"

            "I don't know, maybe osteoporosis or arthiritis…"

            "Alright, just sign this release form so we can be cleared to do some surgical procedures on him," The nurse said gently, handing the clipboard over to Mia.

            "Surgical procedures?" Mia asked, her voice soaked with fright.

            "Surgical procedures…It seems he had heart attack. In the process of it, we think he may have broke a rib bone and that the bone may have punctured the lungs," She explained.

            Mia felt the tears cursing wildly down her face, but she would not start sobbing. "Okay," Sighing the papers quickly, she tried not to shove the clipboard into the arms of the nurse and scream at the nurse to hurry up. Propriety kept her from doing so…and the fact she did not think that the nurse would've found it likable either.

            Trudging her way towards the nearest payment, she dug into her coat for a coin. Slipping it into the slot, she dialed the number to a person she knew would forgive her for calling him at such an hour.

~*~*~*~*~

            Sai wanted to leave school as early as he could. Heck, he had wanted to leave for the hospital when Mia had called but the strange harshness in her voice demanded he stayed in bed and went to school like always. She had also requested that he told Kayura that she couldn't make it to their tennis outing today but he hadn't had the chance to do so yet. _Speak of the devil…_ He instantly thought when he said the familiar female figure walking towards him. 

            "Hey Sai," She said cordially. "I was suppose to meet your cousin Mia after school…I can't seem to find her. Have you seen her?"

            _How am I supposed to tell her? _Sai cleared his throat. "Listen Kayura, Mia called me to cancel with you…Her grandfather had a bunch of health problems last night…well, more like 4 am in the morning. Anyways, she's at the hospital right now waiting for him to come out of surgery."

            Kayura's face instantly turned from pleasant to worried. "Oh, it's that serious? Mind if I tag along?"

            "Of course, I'm sure Mia would like the company," Sai said graciously as he walked out the door. 

            "Thank you," Side-by-side, they walked out of the door towards his car. She turned her head to look behind her, which made Sai look behind them as well.

            "Hey Sai, buddy, where are you going so early? Aren't we supposed to have a study session?" Rowan asked as he, Sage, Kento and Ryo jogged up.

            "Sorry guys, I'm going to have to cancel, I have to go see Mia at the hospital." Sai explained apologetically. "Maybe we can resche-,"

            "The hospital?!" The four chorused.

            "What for?" Kento asked.

            Kayura bristled.

            "Grandfather Koji had a severe heart attack. He had to go into surgery for a punctured lung or something of that sort…anyways, Mia needs me so I'm going to her."

            "And what is _she _doing with you then?" Kento asked glaring at Kayura.

            "She's coming with me to see Mia," Sai explained calmly. 

            "Well if she's going, then I'm going," Kento responded with a big puff.

            "Please. Don't be so generous." Kayura remarked, dryly.

            "I've really gotta get going, anyone of you wanna coming along?" He asked. "Course, I don't have enough seats in my car so you might have to take another one."

            "I have nothing else to do so sure," Ryo replied with a shrug.

            "We're in," Sage and Rowan chirped.

~*~*~*~*~

            _"It isn't looking good Miss Koji. We have done all that we can. Now only time can tell…"_

Mia sat down slowly as she glanced at the pail, frail body before her. It seemed as if her grandfather had aged a few more decades…in fact, it looked as if he was disintegrating before her. Choking slightly as her sobs started up again, she took his hand and held on tightly, whispering words of comfort. _Dear God…please help him. Please._

~*~*~*~*~

            "Hello, my cousin and her grandfather is here under Koji, could you please tell us what room?" Sai asked at the counter.

            "Are you family or friend?" She droned.

            "Family,"

            "Your friends?"

            "Er…they're family too."

            She arched an eyebrow and studied all of them in their green and gold school uniforms, "I see." Shrugging, she held out a clipboard to him and pointed to a column. "I need you all to sign here, the time you checked in and the time that you'll be checking out. Visiting hours are over at six,"

            "Thank you," Taking the clipboard, he quickly scrawled his name on it, handed it to Kayura who signed her name next to it who handed it to Ryo and so forth. After they were all done signing, they handed it back to the lady.

            "Room 35-61." The nurse replied.

            Sai nodded a quick thanks and the others thanked her as well. Hurrying to the elevator, he held a finger on "open door" and a button on "35". The first number of the room was always the number of the floor, the next number was the number of the actual room. "Guys, when I go in, just wait for me outside, Mia might be overwhelmed by all the people that'll be appearing in her room,"

            "Hai," The others chorused in response. (Surprisingly, Kento and Kayura weren't fighting.)

            After the elevator stopped, everyone quickly departed and read directions on the wall for where the room was located.

            Kayura wrinkled her nose when the smell of sterilization and medications engulfed her. She was never all that fond of hospitals…never really had a use for them until today.

            "Aha, here it is…" Lowering his voice, Sai ordered, "Stay right here," Opening the door, he slipped in fast enough that they could only get the glimpse of a shiny red head.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Oh Sai, I'm so glad you're here," She sobbed as she embraced him. "I d-don't know w-what happened…I w-was s-sleeping c-c-comfortably when all of the sudden, I hear grandfather screaming." Violently, she sobbed.

            "Shh shh…It's okay," Sai murmured into her ear as he kissed her forehead a couple of times and rubbed her back.

            "T-thank g-g-goodness we lived s-s-so close to an a-ambulance station or h-he probably wouldn't have m-made it!" Furrowing her face into Sai's uniformed shoulder, she sobbed.

            Sai frowned and hugged her tightly and kept his rub on her back persistant. Gradually, she calmed down, hiccupping. 

            "I'm sorry," She sniffled. "I got your uniform all dirty and wet," Tears threatened to fall out of her eyes.

            "Hey hey, it's okay, it's not that important," Sai soothed still hugging her.

            Releasing each other, Mia took a couple of tissues and wiped her face. "I'm sorry to have bothered you last night…Anyways, how are you,"

            "That's not important right now, are you okay?" He asked, concerned only about her well-being.

            Mia nodded. "I am…"

            "Hey, I brought Kayura along," He said after a moment of silence. _And about five other people you don't know. _He thought, sweatdropping.

            Mia blinked. "Oh…you did? She must think horribly of me for canceling on her like that…"

            "Would you like her to come in?"

            "Sure," Mia replied as she wiped any trace of tears away from her face.

            Sai walked over to the door and swung it wide open. Mia's head cocked to one side as she caught sight of Sage's face. She lifted and hand and waved with Sage responding somewhat surprised, waving back. The door was shut and Mia looked into the face of Kayura.

            "Hey, how are you doing?" Kayura asked gently. 

            Mia chuckled. "I'm doing fine, sorry for canceling on you, I feel really bad…how about we reschedule?"

            Kayura smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't mind at all and don't feel bad,"

            Mia pulled a surprised Kayura into a tight hug. "Thanks," She whispered.

            Kayura didn't know what to do. She had never received something as emotion felt as a _hug._ Hesitant at first, Kayura put her arms around Mia and hugged her. "You're welcome," She said gently.

            "Sai!" A voice boomed from the doorway.

            "Shhh!" Kayura and Sai responded instantly.

            Kento sweatdropped. "Gomen,"

            "Oh hello,"

            Kento turned his head towards the slender red head. "Hi! The name's Kento, you must be Meiala Koji?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai, I go by Mia though," She smiled.

            "Aaa…sorry for barging in on you like this," Kento apologized, laughing awkwardly.

            Frustration broke out on Kayura as she held up a fist, "You are so impulsive you know that?"

            "And you are such a naaaag," Kento responded, his eyes focused on Kayura.

            "Am not!" She countered, angrily.

            "Am too!"

            "Am not, am not, am not!" 

            "Am too, am too, am too!"

            "Am not times infinity!"

            "Am too times two infinities!"

            "Baaaaka, there are no such things as two infinities! Infinity means forever and you can't have two forevers!"

            "You can if I say so!"

            "And just who are _you_ to have the audacity to say things like that?!"

            Sai groaned in frustration as Mia chuckled relieving hours of built-up stress. A slight movement at the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head. Surprised, she pulled Sai's arm and pointed towards his friends. "Sai?"

            Sai looked up and saw his three friends standing there awkwardly. "Oh man, sorry Mia, here, let me introduce you. The blue haired one is Rowan, the blond is Sage and the black haired one is Ryo."

            Mia smiled. "I didn't know Rowan and Sage were your friends much less friends with each other…" She chuckled. "We live in such a small world,"

            Sai was surprised. "Wait…you're met Rowan and Sage before?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai, both on totally different circumstances though,"

            "Are you mad that I brought them here?" Sai questioned.

            "No, not at all," Mia instantly responded.

~*~*~*~*~

            "So you guys are cousins?" Kayura asked, later as they sat on the subway to home. "You aren't related by blood are you?"

            Mia looked at her, surprised. "No, how did you know? Most people assume that we're cousins because we're cousins…"

            Kayura chuckled. "It's kind of like a sixth sense…"__

            "You're very observant, obviously. I wish I were that observant, maybe I would've been able to sense that grandfather was about to have a heart attack and I could've helped him," Mia quietly stated.

            Kayura frowned sympathetically and pulled Mia into a hug. It surprised Mia but not as much as it surprised Kayura herself. _So this is what it feels like to be a friend huh? Maybe humans aren't so bad after all._

~*~*~*~*~

            "I'm kind of mad about the hospital rules…No visitors after six. I wish I could've at least gone home with her or something…I feel helpless. First the death of her parents and then this," Sai said quietly as the five of them strolled down after coming home from a nearby ice cream shop. 

            "Her parents are dead?" They chorused simultaneously.

            "Hai," Sai nodded effectively. "They died in a freak accident and since Mia had no living relatives but Grandfather Koji, she was sent to live with him."

            "What kind of cousin is she? I mean she doesn't really look like you except you both have red in your hair color. I would suspect that you and her would look much more like each other if you were related cousins…" Rowan commented as he looked over at Sai.

            "We aren't related except by marriage," Sai replied while kicking a small pebble. "However, she and I are as close as can be as if we were brother and sister." Looking over at them, Sai quickly spoke, "But it isn't what you think. I think of her as a sister and nothing else. Anyways, how do you and Sage know her?"

            "Sage knows her?" Rowan questioned. Turning to Sage, he asked again, "You know her?"

            Sage nodded to confirm his statement. "Yes, I know her she came over for dinner,"

            Rowan felt an unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his stomach. _Oh my gosh, is this jealousy? _"Oh…" He replied meekly.

            "How'd you meet her?" Sage questioned, look at his best friend with clouded eyes.

            Rowan shrugged. "She came up to me and offered to help me find the way around a mall…When Lindsay invited me out for a milkshake, I had to leave early because I got this really bad headache. Somehow, I ended up in her bedroom,"

            "I see…" Sage spoke with a hint of _jealousy?_

            _No, that can't be it. Sage is never jealous over a girl. _Rowan thought carefully as he decided to amuse himself with a small pebble just as Sai had done.

            Ryo and Kento looked at each other strangely, both with an ice cream spoon in their mouths. Rowan and Sage almost seemed hostile towards each other.

            _How strange…_ Ryo thought to himself.

~*~*~*~*~

            Waving goodbye to Kayura, Mia grinned happily and then watched the taxi cab drive totally out of sight before closing the door. Once she had her back against the closed (and locked) door, she sank to the floor with it as support. Running a hand through her hair, she felt a warm trickle run down her cheeks. The few hours she had with Sai, his friends and Kayura made her happy, but it didn't take away the fear, anger, and pain. 

~*~*~*~*~

            "Welcome back Kayura, the preparations are almost finished," Anubis informed her immediately upon her arrival.

            Kayura's eyes flashed as her uniform changed to the same armory as the night before. "I see. I think the armors' also know what's coming…and I think that's why I've finally started feeling little flashes of their power. I think they may have been revived by our preparation…so that they could find their armor bearers quickly to defend this world."

            "Do you think that will be a problem?"

            "Not at all. By the time they'll have found their armor bearers, our plan would have already been set into motion and it would have gone too far for anybody to stop by then. I wonder…"

            "Yes?"

            Kayura hesitated then sighed. "It is nothing."

            Anubis nodded. "Of course,"

            "I'm dreadfully tired," As if to prove her point, she yawned for a full minute. "I'm going to bed. Please tell the others to sleep well for we have days of work ahead of us."

            "I will inform them of that,"

            Kayura smiled at Anubis. "This applies to you too,"

            Anubis smiled in return. "I would not have thought otherwise."

~*~*~*~*~

            Sai closed the door behind him and he literally threw himself onto his bed. Groaning softly, he thought about the events that occurred. Like Ryo and Kento, he could sense the hostility between Rowan and Sage but because he had been so caught up in his own thoughts, he pushed it aside for times like these to think about. It was possible that they were hostile over Mia…It seemed that Rowan had developed a tender for Mia which was also the same with Sage. Both obviously knew the other liked her and both wanted to say something to each other about it but both were afraid. _Mia wouldn't believe me if I told her. _Sai thought wryly as he flipped over onto his stomach and played with a tag on his pillow. For five minutes, he twisted, turned, and folded the irritable thing before he decided to just rip it out. As he went to tug it, he realized his hand was glowing a slight shade of blue. Blinking again, he looked at it. _Oh man…_ He quickly rushed to close the light off. Staring at his glowing hand, he felt afraid yet fascinated at the same time.

            "Sai, what are you doing with your lights off?" Came the voice from the door as Mrs. Mouri turned on the light. "What are you doing sitting here in the dark? Have you been studying too much?"

            Sai gaped at her for a full minute before answer. "I-I thought I saw something."

            "And you decided to turn off the light to get a good look at it?" Mrs. Mouri arched her eyebrow. "Really Sai…I think you're working too hard. Why don't you go to sleep early tonight?"

            Sai could only nod absent-minded while staring at his hand. _Wasn't it just glowing a few moments ago? _He thought as his mother sighed and walked out of the room throwing her arms up exasperatedly.

~*~*~*~*~

            _It has begun._

Grandfather Koji shot straight up in bed, his monitors shooting off crazily.

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Ryo: Strange things have been happening lately and that plus all the anxiety everyone has been feeling because of the midterms are clashing with each other and adding to all the stress everyone has been feeling.

Kento: Rowan and Sage are making me mad…why won't they just speak to each other? It's as if they know what's bugging them about each other but they won't do anything about it!

Rowan: It's not that I won't talk to him about it…It's just that…

Sage: Do you like her Rowan? Do you?

Sai: Guys…

Kayura: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 10: Monsters, Magic, Mia – Oh My!

Mia: I…can't….breathe. 

Oh my goodness, don't ask me how I came up with the title of the next chapter, it just popped into my head. ^_^;; Now it's repeating itself over and over again in my head…Gah, it's a catchy phrase. O_O Anyways, I almost forgot to put this little note at the end…personally, it probably would be better if I didn't but I love talking so if you don't wanna listen then don't. :-P

Anyways, I can't believe I have two chapters done in less then a week of each other. This gives me time to read these babies over to find if any is wrong with them…I'll post them up within one week of each other. This way, I hope the stories will be edited so none of you will get irritated when I use the wrong verb or something [Yeah yeah, I know you said you didn't really care Youkai, but you're just too darn nice. ^_~]…I know that I get irritated when I run across a simple sentence that is formatted in the wrong way. Of course, even after all my editing and what not, there will still be mistakes so please forgive me for that. ^_^;;

Well I guess that's about it…Now to go and study my History test. @_O;; Ja ne minna!

~Kakeumei Tenshi~


	11. Chapter 10: Monsters, Magic, Mia – Oh My...

Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 10: Monsters, Magic, Mia – Oh My!

By Kakeumei Tenshi

I have a feeling that this chapter will definitely be a long one. ^_^ A lot of things are going to happen in this chapter [hopefully]. The reason I'm speaking as if I'm in present tense is because as I am writing this, I have not had the privilege to start the chapter. I should probably start now. ^_^ So without further adieu, I give you the next chapter of this…ficcie. Tee-hee!

Disclaimer: Your mother wore army boots and your father smelt of elderberries! [Monty Python FOREVER! YEAH!]

            "Rowan, parallelograms have two pairs of parallel sides. A rectangle can be a parallelogram but a parallelogram can't be a rectangle – that's right, isn't it?" Kento asked, his head buried under a book. This was a strange picture, yet Rowan was so engrossed in his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed since the study session began.

            "Yup," Rowan responded monosyllabic while staring out the window, a pen gripped in his hand, tucked under his chin.

            Kento glanced at his friend. He was much more observant and realized that Rowan wasn't doing his part in helping him at all. He figured it'd be selfish to think that Rowan would give every single moment but the man had promised to help Kento study. What was he to break his promise? Kento scrunched his face in agitation for he realized that even if Rowan had promised to help, the dreamy boy had not done anything except respond in a one-syllable sentence. Glaring at Rowan, Kento studied the blue-haired teenager's face. Rowan had his poker face on so Kento couldn't tell if the thoughts that were running through Rowan's mind were good or not. Kento sighed and returned to his books, determined to study with or without Rowan's help. _Maybe another time…_

~*~*~*~*~

            "Even after the wonderful way you all have treated me, a question remains on my mind. When my grandfather awoke last night, why was I not notified about it?" Mia asked, her face as serene as ever.

            "Miss Koji, even though he woke up, he did not stay awake for a very long time. In fact, when we reached him, he had fallen asleep again." The nurse answered.

            "I see, how do you know he isn't in a coma?"

            "Simple, the brain activity changes and his body is more stable. That's why we have all those monitors hooked up to him," The nurse smiled and started to speak again as she hugged the clipboard to her plump body. "Besides sweetheart, you look like you need sleep, you should take better care of yourself," 

            Mia smiled in return, graciously. "Thank you for your concern. If not too much trouble, will you please direct me to where he has been moved to?" Since he wasn't in critical condition anymore, the hospital moved his prone form to where it would be more comfortable for him…and for them. _Though I doubt anywhere in this hospital is comfortable…it's too white and sterile._

            "Of course, this way please," The nurse said as she led the way.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Grandfather?" Mia whispered as she moved her face closer to her grandfather's still face. "Are you awake?" She asked as she grabbed one of his hands and clasped it in hers. _Duh…of course he isn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't be sleeping! BAKA! BAKA! BAK—_

            A groan emanated from the prone body.

            Mia gasped softly, her hair falling over one eye. "Grandfather?" She asked again, more excited.

            "Mia?" Came the hoarse answer.

            "Hey, how are you doing?" She questioned as tears in her eyes clouded up her vision.

            "Water…"

            Mia quickly grabbed a glass of water that was sitting nearby and held it to his lips. He had licked his cracked lips to wet them before taking several big sips of the water. "Slow down, you don't need stomach problems," She half-joked. 

            He stopped immediately and laid back. Lifting his head up took more energy then he expected. He could also feel his chest warming up. _Just a few more seconds…_ He requested to whatever power that was listening to him. Instead of listening, his chest grew hot. He felt himself starting to cough.

            "Is something the matter? Goodness, I knew you shouldn't have drank so much water," She said as she set the glass down.

            Her response was a series of hoarse and powerful coughs.

            Mia looked at him, her face evidently concerned. "Nurse!" She called out clearly.

            "Mia…I need to tell you something," More coughing.

            "NURSE!" She called frantically.

            "No, listen to me," He said and then coughed some more. His breathing became very labored as his chest started to glow. "Mia…" He gasped before fainting from the heat.

            Mia was shocked as she stared at the glowing ball of red on her grandfather's chest. It floated from the chest and up into the air. Several moments lapsed as she stared at the ball of red energy. _Where the HELL was the nurses and doctors?!_ Her eyes widened as the ball grew. Her gasps of breath could be heard as she stared at the ball. Suddenly…

            The red ball shot into her chest. For a split second, she felt a sensation of suffocation, of hot pain, and then…nothing. She was going into shock.

            When the doctors and nurses finally arrived, they had not one but two patients to deal with.

~*~*~*~*~

            Kayura breathed in the sweet scent of the cherry blossoms and felt the energy of the plant wrap itself around her slender form. The blossoms floated slowly around her. They floated so slowly; sometimes, it seemed as if they were frozen in air or were hovering. It defied gravity for sure. Sparkles flew from her fingertips as she swung her arm around her head gracefully. The sparkles landed on every plant making them shine even more. It was as if more light had been given to them. She kicked a small stone, lost in her thoughts of cherry blossoms and whatnot. Sitting down, she gently broke off a branch of the cherry tree and held a flower blossom to her nose. Taking in a deep breath, the sweet smelling fragrant seemed to have had made her dizzy. It was strange. Cherry blossoms were not supposed to do that. Dropping the branch, her breathing became labored as her eyes became dilated. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Suddenly, she shrieked bloody murder. It was the most horrifying sound anyone had ever heard. As she landed in a heap at the foot of the cherry tree, people who had heard her terrifying shrieks ran to her aid.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Two cases of shock? That's very strange,"

            "Both of them seemed to suffer breathing problems too…"

            "Their temperatures are abnormally high,"

            "I've seen the blue haired girl around the red haired girl…maybe they're sisters?"

            "No, the blue haired girl is Kayura Shindo. The red haired girl is Mia Koji, granddaughter of Professor Koji,"

            "Let's go see how they're doing,"

~*~*~*~*~

            The first thing Mia realized was that her head felt like a truck was smashing repeatedly against it. Groaning softly, she tried to sit up but when she did, her headache became even worse. Setting her head gently back on the pillow, she laid a hand over her eyes as memories of the previous event awakened in her mind. "Grandfather…" She murmured. She smiled as her fingers started to massage her temples. She didn't worry too much because she knew that deep down in her heart, he was still alive. That didn't keep her from _worrying…_it just kept her from worrying _too much_. A slight shifting noise echoed throughout the room and her head turned slowly. Blinking, her blue-green eyes started to register the form sleeping on the other bed across the room. An intravenous tube had been inserted in the person's arm – _dehydration, probably._ Looking down at her own arm, she realized that she also had a tube in her arm. _For some reason…probably laced with sleeping drugs. _Mia thought as her head pounding grew less and her eyes drooped lower. Sleep was what she needed now and tomorrow…she'd get answers.

~*~*~*~*~

            Wrapped up like a cocoon with a cotton blanket, Rowan sat on the back porch and stared up into the starry skies. He rarely had time to do this anymore with school and everything else. He pretty much memorized the mid-term review sheets the teachers had passed out. After hours of incessant studying, he checked the weather and decided it was good enough to go star watching. His telescope sat on the table next to him, untouched. A strand of blue hair tickled the corner of his eyes, so he brought a hand up and smoothed his hair back. He sighed as the memory of the study session with Kento arose in his mind. "I should make it up to him," He said aloud to himself and the spacious tapestry above him. Getting up instantly, he quickly went inside, grabbed the phone off the rack and dialed the familiar number.

            Rowan waited patiently as his phone tried to make a connection. Slowly trudging outside and sitting in the same chair that he had occupied moments earlier, he waited for someone at the Rei Fuan family to pick it up. "Mou…Nobody's picking up." Rowan concluded as he set the phone gently on the deck. Sitting back, he stared up into the night sky.

~*~*~*~*~

            Bright light flared from the window and fell across the two patients' faces; instant groans were heard as blankets were pulled up simultaneously and the occupants turned over, away from the glaring light. The nurse suppressed a chuckle as the two girls went on sleeping. "Breakfast time!" She chirped.

            Both shot up at the same time blinking and rubbing their eyes, then both groaned once more.

            Mia's eyes went instantly to her wristwatch as Kayura tried to focus her view with the glaring light right in her eyes. She had the unfortunate luck of getting the bed right next to the window. 

            "Where's my watch?" Mia questioned upon discovery that her watch wasn't on her wrist anymore. 

            Kayura's head swiveled over to Mia and a smile flitted across her dry lips. "Mia?" She questioned.

            "Kayura?" Mia gasped. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

            "I feel okay, I'm not sure what happened," Kayura answered as the nurse placed a breakfast tray before her. "Thank you," She said.

            "You're welcome dear, and here's yours, sweetheart," The kind nurse said as she placed one on Mia's bed.

            "Thank you," Mia replied as she opened the top at the same time Kayura did. An odd smell wafted up into her nose and she drew back.

            The nurse laughed. "Don't worry hun, it doesn't taste as bad as it smells," With that, she left the room.

            "Wanna bet?" Kayura murmured loudly.

            Mia giggled.

            Opening up a wrapped set of silverware [or rather plastic-ware], Kayura started stabbing at her eggs. "So how come you're in here?"

            "Dunno, I guess a blackout or something?" Mia shrugged as she started digging into her food. Ignoring the smell, she stuffed the eggs into her mouth and chewed.

            "Good morning girls," A deep voice came from the door. 

            "Morning," Both chirped as they swallowed quickly. Mia reached for her orange juice as Kayura fumbled to open her carton of milk up. 

            "Lessee…how are you girls recovering?" The doctor asked gently as he glanced at his clipboard. "You both got a nasty case of shock, any reason how?"

            "Shock? What do you mean?" Kayura asked as she set her carton of milk after taking a satisfying gulp from it.

            "Both of you went into shock, it wasn't bad but it was severe enough to send you both to the hospital, as you can see…so do you guys have any ideas of why?" The doctor asked hopefully. "We've only concluded that it could've been a lack of water, which is why you have IV tubes connected to your arms, or a sudden stimulus. There are other ways but we know for sure that they didn't make you go into shock,"

            "Well…" Kayura began. _I felt a surge of power, the armors…I felt the armors. Then I felt as if I couldn't breath and then…all black. Total darkness. _"I don't know, I just blacked out," She answered simply.

            "People nearby said you screamed bloody murder moments before…care to comment?" The doctor asked as he scribbled notes down.

            Kayura shook her head. "I don't remember very well,"

            "I see…and you, Miss Koji?" 

            Mia cleared her throat. "Grandfather. He seemed all fine and then he wasn't…I guess I fainted or something,"

            "When we found your, your eyes were wide open, almost as if you saw something that clearly shocked you, did you see anything?" 

            "I really can't remember, it's all very fuzzy," She replied.

            "Perhaps the shock of seeing your grandfather in pain put you in shock?"

            "Perhaps."

            "Alright, that's about it, you guys seem fine, your vital stats are stable. I don't think you'll need to stay in the hospital very long…after breakfast, you may call your guardians to come pick you up." He smiled. "Unless you want to stay in the hospital for another thirty-eight thousand yen?" 

            Mia and Kayura grinned. "No thanks," They chorused, simultaneously.

            "Good bye," He waved before disappearing out the door.

~*~*~*~*~

            "What is it…five days before mid-terms and Ryo went on a vacation?!" Kento asked. He sighed and sat down. "I wish I was as relaxed and unworried about this mid-term thing."

            "What possessed that boy to go in the middle of the school year is beyond me," Sai put in his two cents as he took a sip of his soda.

            "Don't forget that it's five days before mid-terms," Kento commented, nodding his head for effect.

            "We heard that the first time," Sage chuckled. "Really Kento, I don't know what you're stressing out about…how about we treat you to a whole meal after school today? Will that relax you?"

            "Heck yeah! Are you kidding me? Nothing makes me happier then food…free food is a bonus!" He said grinning, happily.

            Sai nudged Sage and motioned towards the silent Rowan. 

            Sage took one look and returned his attention back on the sandwich. He had a good idea what, or rather who, his friend was thinking about.

            Sai was puzzled at the lack of concern on Sage's part. Then again, he probably shouldn't be seeing as how Sage rarely revealed the serious thoughts that were going through his mind.

            "So anyways, are you guys going to attend the Cherry Festival?" Kento asked, changing the topic.

            "Kento, nobody in Japan missed the Cherry Festival," Sai responded dryly. 

            Kento sweatdropped. "That's right…how about the Spring Formal Dance the school is holding? I hear a lot of hot girls from the neighboring high school is gonna be there! I'll probably need to find a date but that'll be easy. Girls are drawn to my sweet body," He flexed his muscles.

            Sai, Sage and even Rowan groaned at Kento's arrogance, all knowing that he was very well just joking.

            "We~ell, if you all are so displeased about my plan, then tell me, who are you all going to have as dates? I don't hear anyone of you talking about it do I?"

            "That's because the damned dance is three weeks away. We have plenty of time so we don't really have to worry about it." Rowan chirped in as he gathered up his books. "As for the date, I may just have a girl in mind,"

            "Who?" Kento and Sai chorused.

            "That's for me to know, and you to find out, ja!" He said grinning as he walked out the door just as the bell was ringing.

            Sage watched his friends leave and stood up slowly. He knew Rowan since they were in diapers so the only girl that popped up in mind was Miara, cousin of Sai's. "The dance is foolish anyways…" He spoke to himself as he strolled down the hall, books clutched in hand.__

~*~*~*~*~

            _Drinking strength from immortal fire…_

Ryo stared at the big mountain of rock right in front of him. Here it was. He didn't know **why** of all places, he was standing in front of a volcano but something inside him stirred. The next thing he knew, he had grabbed his keys and was out the door. Taking a few steps back, Ryo felt as if he knew what he was supposed to do. Stooping down…he charged and with inhuman strength, jumped up the mountain is if it was **nothing**.

            Once he reached the top, he looked down. Heat resounded from the mountain but he scarcely felt it. Spreading out his arms like wings, he jumped into the opening.

~*~*~*~*~

            _Darkest prison sheds the light…_

Sage shot up in bed, confused and dazed. "Darkest prison sheds the light?" _What a strange dream…_He thought as a yawn rumbled out of his mouth. He glanced at the clock and groaned. Time for mid-terms. _Joy._ He thought sarcastically as he walked over to the closet and searched for his school uniform. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he shuffled hanger after hanger but to no avail could he find his school uniform. _Where did I leave it-oh darn!_ He mentally slapped himself as he trudged out the door towards the basement. He had forgotten to bring his uniform up to his bedroom last night.

            Once in the basement, Sage turned on the light and covered his eyes instantly. The bright light was not unexpected but they still hurt his sleep-deprived eyes. "Where is it? Where is it?" He mumbled as he shuffled through the basket. "Aha!" He pulled out a shirt. "There you are…" Swinging it onto his arms, he shuffled through the basket and found his vest. Pretty soon, he had found his tie and his jacket. It didn't take him very long to find his pants though. Swinging the pants onto his arms, he barely acknowledged the fact that the pocket of his pants was glowing a strange green hue. As he turned off the light, the green hue disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~

            _Swirling beneath a sea of salt…_

"What the hell..?" Sai cursed as he spat out sea water. _How the heck did I end up here?_ He thought as he picked himself up from the sandy beach. "Something funky is going on…I must've eaten something pretty bad…" He muttered as he brushed the sand of his legs. Somehow, he had ended up on the beach and spent the night on the sand. _Why can't I remember a **single** thing? _He shook his head and rubbed his arms. Sleepwalking was the only excuse he could thing of. It sounded logical and reasonable but what caused the sleepwalking? Sai couldn't remember a single event where he had been sleepwalking…then again, if he was in that state of sleep, of course he wouldn't notice. However, until today, he had never woke up in a place that he didn't have a single idea of how he got there. A shiny blue ball laid next to him as he glanced down. Bending over, he picked up the large and shiny light blue marble. "Nice…" He murmured. Looking around, he wondered who could've dropped such a delicate thing.__

            Sai shook his head and studied the ball. As he held it, his hand felt warm and his body, tingly all over. He shrugged and pocketed the marble-like ball. He'd have to find the owner after school…as for now he had to think of an excuse to tell his mom.

~*~*~*~*~

            _Buried within a throne of rock…_

            "Kento, where did you get that large boulder from?" Mr. Rei Faun scolded as he motioned wildly towards the not-so-hidden rock on the front lawn of their house.

            "Boulder? What boulder?" Kento questioned, confused. He looked out the window and yelped. "What's that doing, sitting on our front lawn?!"

            Mr. Rei Faun narrowed his eyes. "Kento, don't lie and insult my intelligence…your little sister saw you haul that thing onto the front lawn before she went to school. Though I wonder how you did it…but that's besides the point."

            "But dad, I did-,"

            Mr. Rei Faun held up a hand and sighed. "Kento, just find a way to remove that boulder and we'll forget that you lied, alright?"

            "But dad, I didn't do-," He protested again.

            "Don't 'but dad' me Kento…really, don't get yourself into more trouble then you are alright? Find a way to remove that boulder, go to your exams and we'll forget all about this."

            Kento sighed. "Alright." He mumbled as he trudged down the stairs. _How the hell could I have hauled that boulder and not remember a thing?_ Opening the front door, he tried to surmise how he could move the heavy boulder. Pulling all his weight against it, he moved it towards the back of the house. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something and jumped back with a yelp. _Did the rock just actually glow orange?_ He shook his head and almost laughed. Rocks didn't glow. "It must've been my imagination." Turning around towards the house, he cupped his mouth. "Dad! You better call someone to move it!"

~*~*~*~*~

            _Floating among the eyes of ages…Unmored in the stream of the sky…_

            "Damn boy, you left the computer on again," Mr. Hashiba swore as he looked at his sleeping kid. Taking a shoulder and shaking it roughly, he attempted to wake the sleeping boy up. "Rowan…Rowan…"

            "Guhhh…"

            "ROWAN!"

            Rowan's head, shot up as his bleary eyes tried to make focus of his surroundings. "What? What? Is something wrong?"

            "It's time for school…and what did I say about leaving the computer on?" 

            "Sorry dad," Rowan murmured as he turned the computer off. 

            "Hurry up kid, the bus is almost here,"

~*~*~*~*~

            "Welcome back Ryo." Kento greeted, buried behind a mountain of books.

            "Kento…studying?" Ryo asked incredulously. A flash of light blinded him.

            "Memories," Sai grinned as he sat down, holding a Polaroid in one hand, the camera in the other.

            Kento glared from the other side of a large book. "……"

            "Ooo…let me see," Sage said as he came up from behind and took the Polaroid from Sai. "Heh…" Looking over the picture sinisterly at Kento, "Blackmail…"

            "Rowan!" Kento all but shouted out happily. 

            "Hey," He greeted as he came to the table. "What's up?"

            "I need your help," Kento said right away. "Finals are tomorrow and I need all the help I can."

            "Sure," Rowan replied just as the bell rang. Grimacing, he turned to Kento, "It'll have to be after school,"

            "Well duh,"

            "I'll join you both if you don't mind…I haven't studied as much as I should've," Ryo commented as he took his seat in the table next to Kento's.

            "Yeah, where'd you run off to?" Rowan asked as the last of the students filed into the room.

            "Nowhere in particular, family stuff, the usual,"

~*~*~*~*~

            "Mrs. Mouri, hi," Mia greeted happily to the petite woman standing before her.

            Kayura looked up from the magazine she was reading. 

            "Hello Mia," Mrs. Mouri greeted warmly as she placed a kiss on Mia's forehead. "How are you doing sweetheart?"

            "I feel a little drained and breathless but I think that's the effect of sleeping pills they've been giving me,"

            "Oh my, why are they giving you sleeping pills? Is it necessary?"

            "I suppose so, I've been having nightmares and I haven't been able to sleep very well,"

            Kayura nodded to herself at that assessment. She had been woken up during the middle of the night because of the tumbling and mumbling Mia had been doing in her sleep.

            "How's Sai doing?"

            "Oh he's doing quite fine, ever since you've returned, he's been a bundle of joy," Mrs. Mouri said happily.

            Mia blushed. "Have you told him I'm in the hospital?"

            "Nope but I should, why don't you hold on and I'll go-,"

            "No!" Mia shouted out as Mrs. Mouri came to a full stop, stared surprisingly at the slender figure laying in the bed. "I wouldn't want to trouble him, really, it's fine. Do sit down Mrs. Mouri,"

            "Alright dear," Mrs. Mouri sat down on a nearby chair.

            "Allow me to introduce Kayura Shindo, a friend of mine,"

            Kayura poked her head up from behind her magazine and smiled tentatively. "Hello," She greeted.

            "Hello!" Mrs. Mouri greeted back grinning. "Ya know, it just so happens that I brought two of my famous shredded pork sandwiches! I thought you might enjoy them more then the hospital food they're giving you,"

            "It's not food, it's poison," Kayura joked as she got out of her bed and sat down in a chair next to Mia's, accepting the sandwich gratefully.

            Mia and Mrs. Mouri both chuckled.

            Mia accepted her sandwich and bit into it. "Oh man…How I've missed your sandwiches, they're the best."

            "I must agree, these sandwiches are delicious," Kayura said as she took another bite of hers.

            Mrs. Mouri beamed proudly. "I try…oh yeah Mia, I talked to the doctor today, he said that you could leave if you wanted, would you like me to take you home?"

            "That'd be very nice! Did you see how Grandfather was doing?"

            Mrs. Mouri hesitated, "He's in a coma."

            Mia's face fell, "I see…"

            "Could I see him before we leave then?"

            "Of course…"

~*~*~*~*~

            Mia took her grandfather's hand into her own hand and held it. "Grandfather, hold on for me," She whispered into his ear. Then she got up and smiled at Mrs. Mouri. "I'm ready to go now,"

~*~*~*~*~

            Ryo let out another loud laugh. "The expression on her face was PRICELESS!"

            Sage rolled his eyes. "I didn't even know who she was,"

            "And yet she knew who you were…" Rowan chuckled. "When you refused her phone number, I thought she was going to pop,"

            "And rip our buddy Sage a new asshole…it was **very** amusing," Kento grinned as he followed Sai up to doorsteps of his home.

            "Oh Sage, give me a call why don't you?" Rowan fluttered his eyes.

            "I love you Sage! I worship your Adonis face!" Kento joined in, speaking in a high voice as they all entered the house.

            "Cut it out you guys!" Sage snarled.

            "SAGE! SAGE! WE LOVE YOU SAGE!" Ryo, Kento, and Rowan chorused, afterwards, falling into a heap of laughter.

            "Shhhhhhh!!" Came the harsh noise from the entry hall. "Boys, please keep it down," Mrs. Mouri spoke lowly.

            "Oh mom, it's just a little teasing," Sai replied hugging his irritated mom.

            Her face softened. "I know I know…but Mia's upstairs resting, I don't want you guys to disturb her from her sleep,"

            "Oh…I'm sorry, was she waiting for me?" Sai asked as he set his books on the table next to the door. 

            "No, I just picked her up from the hospital,"

            "Is Grandfather Koji okay?"

            "No, he's in a coma…though yesterday, it seems that he **did** talk to Mia but something happened…I suppose he went back into a coma or something because when the doctors arrived in the room, Mia was in shock and Grandfather Koji's heart stopped."

            Sai's eyes widened as he started for the stairs. "Is she alright?"

            Mrs. Mouri nodded. "She'll be fine…in the meantime, why don't you boys stay and join us for dinner? Sai dear, don't go sprinting up the stairs, she'll come down when she's well-rested…"

            Sai stepped down from the stairs. "Alright mama, whatever you say,"

~*~*~*~*~

            "Welcome back Lady Kayura,"

            "It's good to be back guys…I know why I landed in the hospital,"

            "Why's that?"

            "The Jewel of Life has awakened…which means the armors have been revived. I can feel the power of the armors, which won't be hard for us to track down. The hardest part will be attaining the yoroi from their armor bearers," Kayura's clothes turned into her armor. She adjusted her hilts at her side and looked up at the four Season Armor bearers. "Here's my plan,"

~*~*~*~*~

            Sai glanced at his watch and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeesh…how long does a girl have to sleep,"

            "I've never seen you this anxious," Ryo commented as he sipped from his drink.

            "She's had a bad night, she needs her rest Sai," Mrs. Mouri replied as a servant came from the kitchen and served them mashed potatoes.

            "Speaking of rest, tomorrow's the mid-terms, we should all get some late-night studying in before we go to bed…" Rowan added in as he dug into his mashed potatoes. "These are good…"

            "My head hurts from too much studying," Kento moaned. He chirped up immediately as the servant entered again but with a bowl of grilled chicken breasts. "Chicken…"

            "I'm ready," Ryo chirped. "To take tomorrow's mid-terms I mean…"

            "And then spring break," Sage grinned.

            Sai arched his eyes and smiled. There seemed to be no more tensions between Rowan and Sage, he was all prepped up for the mid-terms, spring break was coming up and so was the cherry festival…the only bad thing was that Mia still hadn't come down from upstairs. He was anxious to get answers from her.

            Kento and Ryo started chanting, "Spring break! Spring break! Spring br-," 

            "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

~*~*~*~*~

            "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Mia screamed again as she threw a lamp at the…_thing_ that was on the bed. She had backed herself into the corner and out of desperation she tried to back herself up even more. The beating of her heart could've drowned out the sounds of pounding feet coming up the stairs.

            "Stay the hell away from me," She cursed at the person standing on the bed. He was dressed in ancient Samurai armor that held a sword menacingly over her head.

            "Mia!" Sai yelled as he burst into the room along with four other males.

            "Sai," She whispered meekly.

            "What the hell…" Kento murmured at the thing standing on the bed.

            Sage and Rowan each grabbed the nearest thing at hand. Chucking the items at the man on the bed, they got the attention they had wanted to receive.

            Unfortunately, pillows wouldn't do any damage.

            The man snarled and he jumped off the bed, walking slowly towards the five males, swinging his deadly sword. 

            The attention off of her, Mia looked around for solid items. Picking up a chair, she hurled it at the weird man in armor but the chair bounced off. The man turned around, eyes flashing, he chucked the sword like a javelin right at Mia.

            "Mia!"

            Mia gaped at the oncoming sword…and darkness.  

~*~*~*~*~

            "Mia!" Sai screamed once more as he watched her body disappear right before his eyes. 

            "Is it just me or…" Kento started to say.

            The five of them turned and looked. Their scenery started to disappear and faded into a green forest. A few feet ahead of them lay a crumpled Mia.

            "Mia," They started walking toward to her before something blocked them. A figure garbed in pale blue and white monk robes _shimmered_ in right in front of them.

            "What the hell," Kento said.

            "You're becoming very redundant," Rowan murmured, his eyes on the crumpled figure of Mia.

            "Shut up," Kento shot back as he looked at the man in front of them.

            "Who are you?" Ryo asked, standing in front of Sai, his feet planted in a defensive position.

            The monk didn't answer. He did lift his hand up, which caused the other four to bristle. "No need to fear me, I am not your enemy," A golden staff appeared in his hand. At the top of the staff, was a golden ball, elaborately surrounded by rings. He struck the earth once with the staff, the rings jingling softly. 

            They stared at each other, confused.

            "Guys…" Sage murmured as he stared down at the direction of his pant's pocket. 

            The four turned around to look at him and the glowing pocket.

            "Go ahead, grab it, I think all the armors have found their worthy suitors…" The monk said from behind them. 

            They all shot back around and looked suspiciously at the monk. 

            He motioned at Ryo's pocket, which started glowing red.

            Sage reached into his pocket and took out a green orb. "Wisdom…" He murmured to himself.

            The others, following suit, reached gingerly into their pockets and pulled out an orb, each a different color. 

            Sai realized that the orb he was holding was the large marble that he had found on the beach. Holding the glowing ball in his hand, he stared amazed by the light blue aura surrounding it.

            "What is this?" Kento asked, rolling the orange orb around in his palm.

            "You'll see," The monk answered.

            "Armor of Wildfire, Tao Jin!" Ryo screamed holding his glowing orb out. His tiger-blue eyes glinting, the orb flashed a brilliant red and absorbed in his arm. 

            Sai, Sage, Rowan and Kento grimaced at the bright light and stepped back. Once the red light faded, they stared, amazed at an armor clad Ryo.

            "Oh wow…that just came to me," Ryo said as he looked down at himself. His back contained two katanas.

            Sage looked down at his. "Armor of Halo, Tao Chi!" A brilliant green light swarmed his body and when it disappeared, he was dressed in an armor, different from Ryo's. Taking a few steps, he was amazed at lightness in weight. Heck, it just seemed as if he was wearing his own clothing. At his side was a no-dachi, huge battle sword.

            "Armor of Strata, Tao Inochi!" Rowan's voice echoed through out the woods. Like Ryo and Sage, a glow infused him, though dark blue, and when it disappeared, he was wearing armor just as Ryo and Sage was. On his back was a quiver of arrows and in his hand was a large bow.

            Sai followed suit. "Armor of the Torrent, Tao Shin!" Seconds later, the light blue hue that had covered his body disappeared and on his body was a light blue armor. In his hand was a large trident. 

            Kento nodded, "Armor of Hardrock, Tai Gi!" Seconds later, he was dressed in orange armor, at his hands he held a naginata.

            The five of them stood around in awe of each other and themselves. The armors were significantly different from each other both in color and style.

            "Now that the Ronin Warriors have been awaken, my job is done…" The monk disappeared, rings clanging on his staff.

~*~*~*~*~

            Mia stared at the five guys, dressed in samurai armor and blinked. What was going on? Why was Sai and his friends dressed up like that? Pinching herself, she made sure she wasn't dreaming. She grimaced more at the fact that she obviously wasn't dreaming. She shifted around on the dirt ground.

            She felt her chest growing warm and looked down, only to see it glowing a red color. Then it flashed.

            Startled, she looked at her surroundings. This time, she was sitting on a bed of grass, the man dressed in the old samurai armor before her and her friends, on the other side, glaring menacingly at the man.

            "Guys, what say we take down this tin can and show him how to really fight?" Kento grinned, a hard glint in his eyes. "Iron Rock Crusher!" The ground literally opened up and closed around the armor. The earth fell back in place as the 'tin can' stood still.

            Then it fell, the pieces of the armor breaking apart as a black shadow wafted up from the armor, disappearing.

            "Wow…" Kento murmured. "That was pretty damn cool,"

            Ryo, Rowan, Sage and Sai relaxed, a glow of their respective colors covering their body. Moments later, they were dressed once more in their school uniforms.

            Kento followed suit.

            "*That*…was so awesome," Kento grinned. 

            "We heard that the first time you said it, big guy," Sage commented, chuckling.

            "It was fascinating to say the least," Mia observed from the other side, picking herself up from the grass. She rubbed her chest gingerly.

            Sai hurried to her side, taking her elbow. "You okay,"

            She looked warmly at him. "I'm fine,"

~*~*~*~*~

            "I'm surprised, Hardrock knew how to use his attack rather fast," Kayura observed as she watched a reply of the battle in her globe. 

            "Shouldn't we have sent out more soldiers?" Dais questioned.

            "Next time Dais," Kayura mused softly. "Next time,"

~*~*~*~*~

            "SPRING BREAK!" Ryo and Kento whooped as they jumped up and down. Students filtered out of the school, everyone chattering happily.

            "Hey guys," Mia greeted them.

            Ryo and Kento ran to her, one on each side, chattering to her excitedly. 

            Sai, Sage and Rowan chuckled.

            "I for one am glad that mid-terms are over and that we're finally being allowed a period of rest," Sai reflected.          

            "Agreeable," Sage and Rowan chorused. Looking at each other, they chuckled.

            "Jinx!" Rowan called out, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

            Sage scrunched up his nose unable to voice his opinion out loud.

            "I'm just kidding buddy," Rowan said slapping his hand on Sage's back. 

            Sage chuckled.

            "So Mia, are you going to the Cherry Festival?" Kento asked the slender girl.

            "Yup!" Mia chirped.

            Sai grinned as he reached their side. "Speaking of the Cherry Festival, Ma's been making our matching kimonos!"

            "My mom's making mine also," Sage added.

            "I still need to buy mine," Rowan commented.

            "I have mine saved up from last year so I'll use that," Kento pondered.

            "I…need to buy one. White Blaze tore up the one I had from last year," Ryo sweatdropped.

            "White Blaze? Who's that?" Mia asked, cocking one head to the side.

            "He's a-," Kento began before Ryo cut him off.

            Ryo grinned, "Ya know, showing is better then explaining," Swinging one arm around Mia. "White Blaze is a **fascinating** animal, he really is,"

            Sai, Sage, and Rowan chuckled to each other.

~*~*~*~*~

            "White Blaze is a TIGER?!"

~*~*~*~*~

Next time on Ronin Warriors…

Sai: It's Spring Break and everyone's busy planning to go to the Cherry Festival…

Kento: About the Cherry Festival, I can't **wait** to sample all the food they're gonna have there…

Ryo: Babes galore!

Mia: I can't wait to check out the mythology section they have this year, I heard it's going to be wicked good!

Rowan: I was looking that up too, the volunteers are also dressing up like some of the mythological characters.

Sage: I'm going to check out the martial art displays they're going to have up… 

Kento: Oh come on guys…can't you think of anything else rather then those boring things??

Sage: Are you suggesting babes and food?

Kento and Ryo: YEAH!

Mia: Er…

Others: Oivey…

Sai: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 11: Spring Break

Mia: I absolutely adore the smell of spring…

Yeah. This chapter royally sucked. But my inspiration was dying on me and I had to get this chapter out. _ I need to start working on the next chapter, which I have a lot of inspiration for. The hardest part is putting all those thoughts in an organized manner down on paper! I think I better revert back to writing down each chapter then typing them up. Thoughts are much better organized that way…Anyways, sorry this chapter was bad…^_^;; Maybe the next chapter will be able to make up for this one…[Oh yeah, I didn't read this over because I was so frustrated…if there are mistakes, then please point them out for me and I'll fix them as fast as I can…arigato!]

Ja ne minna!

~Tenshi__

            __


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